The Rose Coven
by zell701
Summary: Three siblings come together after the death of their father and discover their secret family heritage as witches. A spin-off of "Charmed", "The Rose Coven" takes the supernatural themes to a new lever. New characters, new powers, and new evils.
1. Preston Alexander Callaway

**Name:** Preston Alexander Callaway

**Celebrity Look-a-Like**: Ian Somerhalder

**Age:** 24

**Height: **6'2

**Weight: **185

**Sex: **Male

**Hair: **Black

**Eyes:** Blue

**D.O.B.:** October 22

**Mother:** Nevaeh D'Angelo

**Father:** Zell Callaway

**Species: **Witch

**Powers:**

1. Telepathy

-Sending and receiving messages through advanced thought

**Astrological Sign** – Libra

**Personality –** Passionate, Secretive, Charming, Mysterious, Troubled, Headstrong, Emotional, Intuitive.

**Likes** **– **Independence, Hard Work, Expensive Merchandise, Alone Time, Reassurance, Arts and Entertainment

**Dislikes – **Irresponsibility, Unfair Situations, Obnoxious People, Being lied to

**Favorites:**

**Favorite TV Show –** Reality TV Shows

**Favorite movie –** A Beautiful Mind

**Favorite fruit –** Bananas

**Favorite food –** Sushi

**Favorite color –** Blue

**Favorite type of music –** Pop/Rock

**Favorite band(s) –** Ashlee Simpson, Lilly Alan, Gavin DeGraw, Ryan Cabrera, Jason Mraz


	2. Payton Ashlee Callaway

**Name:** Payton Ashlee Callaway

**Celebrity Look-a-Like:** Nikki Reed

**Age:** 22

**Height:** 5'7

**Weight:** 128

**Sex:** Female

**Hair:** Brown

**Eyes:** Brown

**D.O.B.:** January 30

**Mother:** Nevaeh D'Angelo

**Father:** Zell Callaway

**Species:** Witch

**Powers:**

1. Healing

**Astrological Sign** – Aquarius

**Personality –** Friendly, Loving, Outgoing, Sassy, Determined,

**Likes** **– **Honesty, Adventure, The feeling of being loved, Building Connections, Being apart of a family, Dancing

**Dislikes – **Rude People, Fighting, Being left out

**Favorites:**

**Favorite TV Show –** "So You Think You Can Dance"

**Favorite movie –** Step Up

**Favorite fruit –** Strawberries

**Favorite food –** Authentic Italian Pizza

**Favorite color –** Blue

**Favorite type of music –** Hip-Hop

**Favorite band(s) –** Michael Jackson, Madonna, Britney Spears, Lady Gaga, Missy Elliot


	3. Parker Jonas Callaway

**Name:** Parker Jonas Callaway

**Celebrity Look-a-Like:** Chace Crawford

**Age:** 19

**Height:** 5'11

**Weight:** 177

**Sex:** Male

**Hair:** Brown

**Eyes:** Green

**D.O.B.:** June 13

**Mother:** Nevaeh D'Angelo

**Father: **Zell Callaway

**Species:** Witch

**Powers:**

1. Visions

-Precognition

**Astrological Sign** – Gemini

**Personality –** Fun-loving, Care-free, Athletic, Confidant, Big Heart, Rebelious

**Likes** **– **Hot Girls, Sports, Mysteries, Having Fun, Cars, Working Out, Being Magical

**Dislikes – **Responsibility, Rules, Loosing, Bossy People

**Favorites:**

**Favorite TV Show –** "FBI Files"

**Favorite movie –** "Saw"

**Favorite fruit –** Strawberries

**Favorite food –** Any Protein

**Favorite color –** Green

**Favorite type of music –** House/Electro

**Favorite DJ(s) –** Benni Benassi, Klaas, Crookers, Felgrook


	4. Wicked Episode One

Wicked

(Episode One)

It was the morning of August 20th, 2008. The air was still, the sky was gloomy; depression blanketed the day from the moment the sun had risen. It was the day to burry magic, and it was the day magic gave birth to a new life, three new lives that is, the lives of The Rose Coven.

Jersey City had never had a day like this in hundreds of years. While Zell Callaway wasn't a prominent citizen of New Jersey, his three children carried the weight of the world on their shoulders today, for today was the day they buried their father.

In an average sized white Dutch colonial house, forty or so people were gathered for a reception. There were many cars parked out front, and the house was busy with walking, talking, eating, and crying. The home carried a vibe of much more then sadness; there was doubt, fear, frustration, but among these negative feelings was a ray of hope, a small, but faint ray of hope that one young man seemed to catch onto.

The man stood about six feet, two inches tall, and looked to be in his early twenties, 24 years old to be exact. He had a very lean build, but clearly had enough strength to be able to defend his self, with nice, better than average arm, shoulder, chest, and leg muscles. His hair was dark brown, black when out of the light, and his eyes were crystal blue. His skin was olive, but it was evident that he stayed out of the sun, cheeks as pink as his lips. His hair was fairly short, but had enough length to style it up. He was dressed in a black suit, silver vest, and black tie.

"Preston, can you please stop thinking about other things for once in your life? You owe it to these people, and more importantly dad," a young woman around the same age as Preston asked.

She was exactly twenty-two years old, and without the help of her silver heels, was five foot, six inches tall. This girl had an even leaner build then the man she was speaking to, but was clearly built in her legs, arms, and abs; she was blessed with the body of a dancer. Her medium brown hair was in a loose curl, when straight it would potentially reach her mid back. Her eyes were a very dark, but dazzling brown, and her complexion was fair and slightly tan. A silver heart necklace from Tiffany's accented her matching bracelet, and stood out among the black halter dress she was wearing.

"I'm sorry Payton it's just that… well," Preston reframed from saying what was really on his mind, "Parker isn't here yet. He barely made the funeral, and now he's going to miss the reception. I swear that boy is so…"

"Immature, irresponsible, lazy? Which is it going to be this time Preston?" A younger boy asked, cutting off Preston's words.

The boy resembled both Preston and Payton, but had more of a baby face, which his fresh age of nineteen contributed to. His skin was tan, being evident that he spent a lot of time in the sun. He was shorter then Preston, but taller then Payton, reaching just south of six feet. He had a more muscular build than the other two, but still kept a frame that was proportionate to his height. His hair was a milk chocolate brown, slightly lighter than Payton's, short, and styled into a weak foax-hawk, and his eyes were green like emeralds; he had a stare that could pierce through glass. He was wearing a suit that matched Preston's, except rather than wearing traditional shoes, he was wearing a pair of gray and black Nikes.

"That wasn't what I was going to say, but if that's what you're projecting, maybe you're the one to think of yourself like that," Preston said with a glare.

"That's enough out of you two," Payton said in a loud whisper. She grabbed her two brothers by the arms and led them into the foyer where no one was, closing the white door to the family room. "Can we please have one day where we can all get together and not argue; especially on a day like today?"

Parker crossed his arms and looked away. The young man had nothing to say.

"You're right Payton, I'm sorry." Preston turned his attention to Parker, taking a deep breath. "I'm sorry too, I didn't mean to lash out on you, it's just… we're all dealing with this in our own ways you know?"

Parker closed his eyes and took in a deep breath, letting out the air with a large sigh and reopening his eyes. He turned to face his brother and sister.

"Yeah." A tear rolled down Parker's cheek. "I can't believe he's really gone. I remember talking to him, planning my trip home for thanksgiving."

Payton reached her arms around Parker, and held her little brother as he started to cry. Preston also joined in on the family hug. The three of them held each other crying.

"We'll get through this, dad wouldn't let anything bad happen to us, even in death," Payton said wiping the tears from her eyes and letting go from the hug.

Preston pulled away from the hug as well. "Payton's right," Preston responded clearing his throat and drying his eyes. "Everything will work out, it always does."

Parker wiped his eyes with his hands, and nodded slightly. Payton gave Preston a weak smile, just as there was a knock on the door.

"Who do you think that could be?" Payton asked turning to Preston.

Preston shrugged. "Not sure, maybe a late guest?" Preston walked over to the large white French doors, opening one of them, revealing a man holding a badge. "Um good morning officer, can I help you?"

"Actually it's detective. Detective Jacobs. I was wondering if I could have a few words with the Callaways?" He said stepping into the house intrusively.

Detective Jacobs was tall, six foot, three inches and was clearly built with a large chest and broad shoulders. His skin was light, his eyes blue and his hair brown. He had a goatee, and looked to be in his early thirties.

"Um, well now might not be a really good time," Preston replied. "If you didn't know, we're having a reception for our father's funeral."

Payton and Parker stood near the doorway to the family room, a few feet in front of the staircase coming down from the second story, with surprised looks on their faces.

"I understand that, but there is evidence to support that your father's death wasn't an accident, it could have been a homicide," the detective informed. He handed Preston a card. "I'll tell you what, continue with your reception, but if you wouldn't mind, I'd like it if you three could come down to my office as soon as you're finished here."

Preston stood with a shocked looked on his face. He looked down at the card, then to his brother and sister, and back to the detective giving him a stern nod.

Detective Jacobs nodded in return and stepped out of the house. He turned around and looked back at the three siblings. "My condolences to your loss." He then turned back around towards the street and walked to his car, Preston closing the door behind him.

"Homicide?" Parker questioned with fear in his voice.

"There has to be some kind of mistake, dad fell down the stairs, the hospital said they couldn't stop the internal bleeding, I don't understand," Payton added, clearly turning to Preston for support.

"Ok, lets just deal with everyone here, act like nothing is wrong, but as soon as the reception is over, we'll go down to that detective's office. I'm sure there is a reasonable explanation for this," Preston stated as he walked to the door leading to the family room. He opened it up and walked in, leading his brother and sister back to the reception.

***

"Come on guys, I'd like to get this over with," Preston shouted standing next to the doors in the foyer.

Everyone who was there for the reception had left, and while they were getting ready to leave, they cleaned up their home from the gathering earlier in the morning.

Preston had changed into a white and gray vertically striped button up shirt. A pair of dark blue jeans covered his lower body and draped over his black high top converse. He reached up to the coat hooks beside the French doors and put on his black leather jacket.

Payton and Parker trotted briskly down the staircase.

Payton had changed into a pair of black low rise, skintight jeans. There were four or five inches between the top of her jeans and the bottom of her white blouse. Payton was still wearing her jewelry, but changed from her black heels to a pair of black slip on shoes.

Parker had put on blue jeans that had fashionable tears in them on random locations, and were faded at the butt and thighs. Over his white undershirt, he wore a black thermal with "Hurley" written vertically down the right side, and still wore the same pair of Nikes. His ears were different however; there was a large square diamond earring in each lobe that glistened in the light just as his emerald eyes did.

"I just need to grab my purse," Payton said picking up a small white purse from the foyer table.

"Great, now let's get a move on it," Preston turned around and opened up one of the doors, pulling out his keys from his jacket pocket.

The three siblings walked down the steps from the front porch and headed down the walkway to the street where Preston had parked his 2006, black, four-door Honda Civic. Preston clicked a button on his key chain unlocking the doors; a small honk came from the car and the headlights flashed. Preston opened up the driver side door, getting in. Parker opened up the back door behind the passenger seat and got in, leaving Payton with the front seat.

"So how long is this going to take," Parker questioned as his brother started the car and drove off down Whitaker Street. "I'd like to hit the gym tonight; it'll help me clear my mind."

"As long as it needs to take, I want to make sure we get this whole thing settled," Preston answered. "And you can't go to the gym, we need to clear out dad's room and go through his things."

"I still can't believe that detective thinks someone killed dad. Who would want him dead?" Payton pondered looking out the window at the passing cars and surrounding city.

Jersey City was a pretty busy place, one of the most popular cities in New Jersey, being extremely close to the island of Manhattan. Unlike the big city of Manhattan, the culture and the history of Jersey was more prevalent and easier to spot in much of the architecture of the buildings, and in the surrounding parks and neighborhoods that were present in Jersey that didn't exist in Manhattan.

"Well like I said before, there has to be a big misunderstanding. That's why were going to talk to him. We're going to get this all cleared up so we can put our minds at ease and we can let dad rest in peace," Preston answered.

"What if the detective is right? What if someone really did kill dad? Do you think someone could be after us then?" Parker questioned with a sense of paranoia.

"He's not right Parker. No one killed dad, no one is after us, drop the dramatics, this isn't high school anymore," Preston said with frustration.

"Yeah but," Payton chimed in, but was cut off by her older brother.

"No buts! Now stop feeding this insane idea, meeting with the detective will straighten this whole thing out."

The vibe in the mid-sized car was that of an awkward one. No one knew what to say with out stepping on each other's toes, but everyone's minds were racing. 15 minutes later, and some awkward small talk in the future, the three siblings arrived at an older brick building in downtown Jersey City. Preston parked his car in one of the parking spaces in front of the building. The three callaways exited the car and walked into the building together.

"Hi, can I help you?" Asked a friendly woman from behind the front desk. Her hair was dark and in a bun. A pair of black reading glasses covered her hazel eyes.

"Yeah, we're here to see Detective Jacobs," Preston answered walking up to the receptionist's desk. Payton and Parker stood side by side with their older brother.

"Oh, you must be the Callaways, I'll go ahead and let him know you're here," the receptions said with a smile.

She got on her all too familiar phone and dialed up to Detective Jacobs. She exchanged a few words with him, and then hung up the phone. "He said to go right on up. His office number is two; it's on the third floor."

"Thanks," said Preston.

Parker nodded, and Payton thanked the woman as well. The three of them headed up a few flights of stairs until they reached the third floor, and were standing outside a door with the number two written on it. Parker was about to knock on the door when Detective Jacobs had opened it for them.

"Please, come on in," he said walking to his large black chair on the opposite side of a large wooden desk. Three smaller black chairs were seated on the side closest to the door; they were facing the window behind Detective Jacobs. "Take a seat."

The three siblings were a little hesitant, but they knew that they would make it through this situation together. They each took a seat, Preston in the middle, Parker to his right, and Payton to his left.

"You know you dropped a huge bomb on us today, we'd really like to know what this is all about," Payton stated bluntly.

Preston gave his younger sister a bit of a nudge and glanced at her to be less aggressive.

"What my sister means is the doctors declared his death an accident. They tried to save him when he slipped into his coma, but there was nothing they could do to stop his internal bleeding. We just don't see how fowl play could be the cause of his death," Preston added. "He had bad eyesight, and lost his step going down the stairs."

"Doesn't that just sound a little too melodramatic to you? Your father was an older man, yes, but he was by no means senile. As a matter of fact, other than his bad eyesight, your father was a really healthy man, a respectable realtor, with stocks in the right places, and a nice, remodeled-paid off home-that he just so conveniently left to the three of you," Detective Jacobs responded.

It was evident that the detective believed the death of Zell Callaway was the fault of his three children, however, despite Preston's rocky relationship with his father, the three of them loved their father deeply, and nothing would posses them to hurt him purposely in any way. Despite the detective's allegations, he was onto something with his theory of a homicide.

"Are you trying to say we had something to do with our dad dieing?" Parker questioned defensively.

"No, not at all," Detective Jacobs said as he opened a drawer to his desk, reaching down and pulling out a knife in a plastic baggy. He opened the zip lock baggy and pulled out the knife. The knife's handle was wooden, and had an upside down pentagram carved into both sides of the handle. "Ever seen one of these before?"

"A knife? Yeah, I tend to use one of those every time I need to cut the food I eat, not murder my father," Parker said sarcastically. He crossed his arms and leaned back in his chair. Preston could only give Parker a stern look.

"Detective what's your point?" Preston wondered, just wanting to get their talk over with.

"My point is that this knife isn't just an ordinary knife. It's an athame; a ceremonial and sacrificial knife that people who dwindle in the occult use. It was found on the top of the steps in your father's home. The same steps that he so happened to slip and fall from."

"I'm pretty sure he wasn't stabbed detective," Preston added.

"No, but I believe your father was coming up the stairs to go to bed when he was surprised by one, two, or three individuals standing at the top of the steps waiting to murder your father," the detective addressed.

"There's one problem with your theory detective, my brother, Parker, was in L.A. at the time of our father's death. I'm pretty sure going to school over 2000 miles away is a good enough alibi," Payton stated.

"Like I said, I'm not pointing fingers, but it does get better. Your father had cuts and bruises on his body, some from that night, and some from before his accident. The way it looks, there was a struggle, your father was able to disarm his attacker, but his attacker got the upper hand when he or she pushed him down the stairs," Detective Jacobs concluded.

"This is bullshit! You really think someone killed my dad? You think we killed my dad! There was no reason for anyone to want to hurt my father! I'm done with this," Parker shouted as he stormed out of the Detective's office, down the stairs, and out of the building.

Detective Jacobs was a little taken back at Parker's outburst, but managed to keep his cool. Preston and Payton both stood up in shock however, watching their brother ferociously leaving the room.

"Will you go make sure he's ok, I'm going to finish up here and I'll be right down to take us home," Preston whispered to his sister.

"Yeah, I got it covered," she said picking up her purse and walking out of the room, her head held high.

"Detective, I don't know who you think you are, but we didn't kill our father. No one killed our father. No one in hell had a reason to kill our father. Now if you don't mind, I would appreciate it if you and your wild stories left my family and me alone, especially right now. We're trying to deal with a pretty severe loss," Preston said confidently and sternly. Preston turned his back and headed for the door.

"None the less Mr. Callaway," the detective added. Preston stopped; he didn't turn around, but instead continued to face the door. "I'll be keeping an eye on you three, if not to watch your backs, then to watch my back from you."

Preston made an angered fist with his hand and then took a deep breath. He continued for the door, leaving the building, and met up with his brother and sister who were sitting on the concrete steps outside the building.

"That guy has a lot of nerve," Payton said standing up.

Parker was still seated on the steps. He was very still and quite, and could only look at one spot on the ground.

"Yeah, something tells me we haven't seen the last of him though," Preston said looking back up at the building to one of the windows.

"Can we just go?" Parker asked, still looking at the same unimportant spot on the ground.

"Yeah Parker, yeah we can," Preston gave his brother a weak smile. Like before, the three siblings got into Preston's black Civic, this time headed for home.

***

"Payton, can you help me with dad's chest?" Preston asked his younger sister.

At the bottom of their father's large queen size bed sat an old wooden chest. There was a lock on the chest, but it wasn't latched. In fact, it looked as though Zell Callaway had just been in it before he died.

Payton shifted her attention from the closet she was clearing out to help her brother clear out the chest.

Preston and Payton both opened up the heavy chest together. What they found inside was a little surprising.

There were candles of all sorts scattered about, a black cloth was neatly folded up inside the chest. There were baggies filled with herbs, some jars with liquid inside, and small glass vials. At the bottom of the chest was a large black book which the two siblings didn't spot very well.

"Um Preston… what the heck is all this stuff?" Payton asked a little nervous about what she had just found.

"That's a really good question," Preston replied as he started pulling the stuff out of the chest a few things at a time, making the large, black, leather bound book more visible.

In the center of the cover there was a symbol. The majority of the symbol was circular. On top of the circle rested an aluminum, four dimensional, compass rose. The four arms pointing north, east, south, and west extended outside the circle, while the north-east, south-east, south-west, and north-west points barely stretched to the line of the circle. Underneath the compass rose, taking up the left portion of the circle, was a black crescent moon that shared its outside edges with that of the entire circle.

The book was extremely large and thick. Its dimensions were precisely eleven inches wide by seventeen inches long. The mystical black book sank seven inches deep. On the top right sides of the book were gray metal latches, helping to keep the book shut. A sort of medieval designed framed each edge of the book with the same gray metal. The book weighed between twenty-five and thirty pounds.

At this point, Parker had walked out of the bathroom that connected to the bedroom.

"Ok, I got all his things in the bathroom cleared out," he said with no regards to the astonishment of his brother and sister's discovery. "Are you guys listening, I said the bathroom's done."

"Yeah we're listening, it's just that, well… see for yourself," Payton responded standing up and sitting on the edge of the bed. Preston stood up and stepped away from the chest.

Parker walked over to the wooded chest with a confused look on his face and bent down to see what was in it. The only things left in the chest, after Preston had set aside the other things, was the book, a few more candles, and a small, rectangular, silver framed mirror.

"Whoa, this is wicked," Parker stated naively. Parker bypassed the large tome, and aimed his grip for the mirror. He picked it up and tried to look at his reflection, but the reflection was faint, he was looking into a black mirror.

A black mirror is the same thing as a regular mirror, only it's placed over a black background thus darkening the reflection to an almost pitch black glass surface, and the frame of the mirror is usually medieval in appearance.

"Hey, I can't see shit in this."

"Parker can you please put that back, I think this stuff was better left untouched," Preston informed.

"Do you think this really belonged to dad?" Payton wondered.

Parker was still playing with the mirror. He took his sleeve to his shirt to try to rub the glass surface clean, foolishly thinking that dirt was the reason for the poor reflection, but in his attempt to fix the problem, he dropped the mirror on the hard wood floor and it shattered into tiny pieces. Out of the mirror came a bunch of swirling white and yellow lights that entered the bodies of Preston, Payton, and Parker.

"Parker, look what you did!" Preston said angrily. None of them seemed to really notice the magical lights that escaped the broken glass and found shelter in their own bodies.

"I'll go get a broom," Payton said as she walked out of her father's room and down the stairs to the kitchen.

"I'm sorry, it was just dirty, and…"

"No, it's fine." Preston took a deep breath. He started to place all of the items back into the wooden chest. "We'll just clean this mess up and finish tomorrow."

"Are you sure?" Parker asked sympathetically.

"Yeah, besides, I'm starting to get a migraine and I would rather just sleep it off."

Payton had come back into the room with a broom and dustpan. Parker took the dustpan and bent down as Payton started sweeping the glass into the pan. Parker stood up and walked into the bathroom to throw the glass away. On his way back he found one more piece on the ground, he knelt down and picked it up, in doing so, he sliced his hand.

"Owe!" He shouted dropping the piece of glass and making a fist.

"Are you ok?" Payton wondered setting the broom against the wall and walking over to her brother.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, I'm fine." Parker bent down and picked up the piece of glass one more time, this time more gently, and threw it away. He turned on the water and ran his hand under some warm water.

"You better take care of that cut kiddo, you don't need it getting infected," Preston stated walking over to his brother and sister who were now in the bathroom.

"Its fine," Parker shrugged his wound off.

"Still, make sure you put some peroxide on it and wrap that thing up," Payton added.

"Ok well I'm going to head to bed, I'll see you guys in the morning," Preston said.

"Can I barrow your car to go to the gym in the morning?" Parker asked with his hand still under the water.

"Oh, mind if I tag along? Since I'm not dancing for the next couple of weeks, I do want to make sure I stay in shape," Payton stated to her little brother.

"Yeah it's fine, just don't take all day, I really want you guys back before the realtor comes."

"We'll be back by eleven," Parker replied. "And yes, you can tag along."

Preston walked out of the bathroom rubbing his temples. Coincidently, his headache started to appear at the same moment Parker broke the black mirror. He walked out of his father's room and down the hall to his old bedroom.

None of the Callaway siblings lived at home, but because of the death of their father, they decided to stay there for a week to settle everything that needed taking care of, and to find the right realtor to sell their childhood house.

"Cool, thanks. I'm actually going to go to bed too, it's been a crazy day." Payton gave her brother a small smile. Parker smiled back and turned off the water, reaching into the cabinets pulling out some peroxide, but failed to look for any band-aids. Payton also left her father's room to her old bedroom, and got ready for bed.

Parker turned off the light and walked out of the master bedroom bathroom. As he headed for the door, he stopped and looked at the wooden chest. He shrugged off his urge to look in the chest and turned off the bedroom lights, heading to his old bedroom as well. Unlike his brother and sister, he wasn't going to bed right away. He pulled out his laptop and started on some on-line homework his professors gave him to do on his stay in New Jersey.

His brother and sister both got two weeks off of their jobs, and his sister's dancing class, but he was only granted permission to miss a week of class and baseball practice. UCLA understood the severity of Parker's loss, but it was the coach's idea that he only needed a week to grieve, and he would have to go back to his normal life after that week. Parker couldn't complain much however; he was going to school for free on a baseball scholarship.

***

"You got everything you need?" Parker asked as he waited for his sister to get out of their brother's Civic.

Parker was wearing a pair of gray track pants, and a black wife beater that clung to his body accenting his large and defined chest, shoulders, and arms as well as his 6-pack. For comfort and style, he wore a pair of black and white pumas.

"Yep," Payton responded and she closed the passenger side door.

Payton's hair was tied back into a bun. She was wearing track pants as well, only hers were blue. The only thing covering her upper body was a white sports-braw that was covered by a matching blue track jacket. Payton was carrying a black gym bag that had any extra clothes she would need, and a few sports equipment.

"Ok, I'm going to go upstairs and do weights for a little bit. Do you want to meet back down stairs to run?" Parker asked as he and his sister entered the large building. There were all kinds of people working out; people were running, stretching, lifting, and talking, and this was only on the bottom floor.

"Sounds like a plan," Payton responded. She walked over to a room with a wooden floor and mirrors all around. She was the only one in the room. She walked over to a CD player and opened up her gym bag pulling out a mix CD. She loaded the CD player and set her gym bag down against the front wall mirrors, then took her place in the center of the room.

As soon as the music started to play, Payton went into a dance she had been learning in her dance class. Payton was a beautiful dancer. She had control, poise, and flexibility. Payton had been dancing since the age of three. Unlike her brothers, she didn't go to college, but she attended a protégés dance school in New York, where she currently lives, and still continues to take classes to better herself as a dancer.

Upstairs, Parker was sitting on a black bench. He was doing a typical bench press, lifting 170 pounds with his upper body. With each repetition, grunts and groans were escaping his mouth.

Parker was on his last set when his ears started to ring and he became light headed. Parker placed the bar and weights into the resting position on the bench and started to sit up. Just as he did his eyes rolled into the back of his head; his open eye sockets were pure white. An image of his older brother flashed through his mind's eye. He only saw his brother Preston opening their front door, and then the strange image left his head.

"What the hell," Parker said to himself shaking off what had just happened. His eyes returned to normal. He was unsure whether or not his mind was just racing on its own, creating images of the past, or possible future situations, or if the image in his head was something more.

Parker started to lay back down on the bench when his ears started ringing again, this time the ringing was accompanied by a dizzy spell. Before he could get all the way back up, another image flooded his mind and his eyes turned white once again.

The next image left off where his last one ended. Preston was opening the door revealing the realtor. Preston looked confused in Parker's vision, but invited the realtor into the house.

His eyes returned to normal and the image stopped. A small drop of blood came out of Parker's nose. Parker sat up completely and felt the dripping from his nose. He took the back of his right hand and wiped his nose, smearing a blood streak onto the back of his hand and arm.

His breathing was slightly heavier and he was still dizzy, and still had ringing in his ears. He was able to stand up, but when he did, another image battered his mind and the vision process continued.

Like before, this image left off where the last one ended. Preston had just invited the realtor into the house. They were exchanging a few words. Then in his vision, Preston started to back up. When he did the realtor put out his hand and a knife, more specifically, an athame materialized out of nowhere. Preston turned around and jetted up the stairs, when he did, the realtor threw the knife and the edge landed in Preston's back. The mental image faded and his emerald eyes rolled back into their original position.

Parker was stumbling around the upper level of the gym when his vision had occurred. His nose was bleeding a lot more, but stopped when the images stopped attacking his mind. He wiped his nose again, not paying any attention to the people who were staring at him and asking him if he was ok.

Parker unstably made his way back down the stairs to look for his sister. As he regained more control of his body, the ringing faded, and the dizziness dissipated. He was more stable, but was in a panic as he was looking for his sister. It took him a short while before he spotted her dancing in the room she was in.

"Payton, we have to go," Parker said in a huff barging in on her. He had almost scared her half way to death.

"What is it, what's wrong?" Payton asked with fear in her voice. "Parker, you're bleeding."

"It's fine. I'm ok, but we need to leave, I think Preston might be in trouble."

Payton grabbed her CD and placed it back into its case, then into her gym bag. She lifted it up and swiftly put it on her shoulder.

"I'm ganna need you to drive, I'll explain everything on the way," Parker said handing his sister the keys. He was extremely shaken up. Payton walked in front of Parker, who was only a few feet behind her, with his hands in his pockets, embarrassed and afraid of what had just happened. The two siblings made their way back to the car and darted for their childhood home on Whitaker Street.

***

Preston was sitting at the kitchen table reading the newspaper and drinking a cup of coffee. He was wearing a pair of dark blue Levies, a white wife beater, and a blue, hooded, zip-up sweatshirt over his tank top. Covering his feet were the same pair of high top converse he wore the day before to Detective Jacobs' office.

It was at the same instant he took a sip of his coffee when the doorbell rang. He set down his coffee and looked up at the round, hanging clock in the kitchen. He swallowed his coffee and stood up, setting the paper down on the table.

"I wonder who that could be," Preston said to himself heading to the front door.

He opened the door revealing a man in his late twenties. He had short light brown hair and brown eyes. He was wearing a dark suit with a white dress shirt and a black tie to match. He was about the same height as Preston; only he had a little more muscle mass than Preston did; Preston was built like a runner. In his hand was a single black briefcase.

"Good morning Mr. Callaway, I'm Ian Tharp from Canyon Crest Realty, I spoke to you on the phone the other day," Ian said reaching out his hand to shake Preston's hand.

Preston extended his arm, shaking Ian's hand. "Right, but I thought we were meeting in the afternoon?"

"Really? I'm sorry; I have the meeting scheduled for ten… you know, my assistant must have mixed up my time blocks." Ian paused and thought for a moment. "Well, since I'm already here, would you like to sit down and discuss things now? I can understand if the timing is of an inconvenience to you."

Preston hesitated for a moment. "Well, it would be nice if my brother and sister were here too, but they should be here soon." Preston thought about what he should do, but decided to go on with the meeting at an earlier time. "Come on in."

The two of them failed to see a white car parked across the street. In the car was Detective Jacobs, watching the house with a pair of binoculars.

"Great. Again, I'm so sorry about the inconvenience Mr. Callaway," Ian said as Preston walked him into the home. _'Good, he's alone.'_ Ian thought to himself. He quickly shut the door behind him.

"I'm sorry, what was that?" Preston said stopping in his tracks.

"I said I was sorry for the inconvenience," Ian said with an all-too-perky-smile. 'I hope he's not on to me.' Ian thought.

"What do you mean you hope I'm not onto you?" Preston was whole-heartedly confused about the situation.

_'Crap, he's a telepath!'_ Ian set his briefcase down on the floor. "I mean this." Ian held out his hand and an athame appeared in his grip.  
"What the hell?" Preston exclaimed, backing up slowly."

"Hell is exactly what it is," Ian said walking slowly toward Preston with the athame in hand. "You see I killed your daddy in hopes of attaining your family's magic. What I didn't know was that he stripped his kiddies of their powers, the powers I want. Now that he's dead, you clearly have your powers, and now all I have to do is kill you and they become mine," Ian laughed devilishly.

Preston was sweating. He turned around and darted up the stairs. Ian took the tip of his athame and threw it, the blade going straight into Preston's back.

"Ah!" Preston grunted as he fell to his knees on the staircase. Ian smiled and walked slowly toward Preston.

The door swung open, and Parker and Payton came barging in.

"Preston!" Payton yelled running over to her brother spotting him on the stairs with a knife in his back, she paid little attention to Ian, leaving him to deal with her younger brother.

"Who the hell are you! What did you do to my brother!" Parker yelled.

"Damn it!" Ian said to himself. "I'm not ready for you two yet." In the blink of an eye Ian disappeared.

Parker took a step back, he had just seen a man disappear, and in an extremely fast manor.

Payton was kneeling over Preston's body crying. "Preston… Preston please answer me!"

Parker ran over to his brother and sister; his brother needed help now, he had time to dwell about the disappearing murderer later. Parker knelt down in front of Preston as tears started to roll down his face.

"No, you can't die too," Payton said with tears pouring out of her eyes like rain from the sky. She pulled out the athame from his back. "I'm so sorry Preston. Parker, go get a towel and call 911."

Parker nodded and got up running upstairs to a phone and the bathroom. Payton put her hands on her brother's puncture wound, trying to apply pressure to it. When she placed her hands on his back a white light emitted from them. Her crying hushed slightly and a very confused look broke across her face. The light poured from her hands and onto the wound. As it did, Preston's stab wound began to close up. Payton sat there for a few seconds until the white light dissipated. The wound was healed; only leaving dried blood on his skin on and around his clothes where Preston was stabbed.

"Ugh, what happened," Preston spoke softly as he struggled to sit up.

Payton was taking extremely slow and taking deep breaths. "Are… are you ok?" She said with a shocked expression.

Parker came running back to the stairs with a cordless phone to his ear and a towel in hand. His eyes were wet. He was taken back when he saw his brother sitting up next to his sister.

"Hello? Sir? I said 911 what's your emergency?" Asked a female voice on the other end of the phone.

"I'm ganna have to call you back," Parker stated hanging up the phone and dropping it on the ground. "Your ok, but, I mean why, I mean… how?"

Parker trotted down the steps and sat down beside his brother and sister. He looked at Preston's back clearly seeing blood and a hole in his jacket and tank top, but there was no puncture wound what so ever.

"Payton, she uh… well I don't know how to say this with out sounding crazy but she healed me," Preston informed looking up at her.

"I guess miracles really do happen," Parker added with a nervous laugh. He let the air dry his damp face.

In the foyer, within the fifteen or so feet that separated the bottom stair from the French doors, white lights began to appear and swirl about in a circle. As the lights started to dissipate, the figure of a man was clearly visible.

The man was older, somewhere in his fifties, with dark brown hair. Spots of gray highlighted his hair in random locations. His skin had a light olive complexion. His eyes were big and brown. He was a fairly tall man, about six feet, four inches tall, and had an average build, he wasn't heavy, but he wasn't in peak physical condition like the three Callaway siblings. He was wearing a blue polo with a white undershirt visible on the chest area; the three buttons were left open around the neck. A pair of white sneakers, they appeared to be running shoes, and a simple pair of loose fitting blue jeans finished off the man's wardrobe. A weak smile was all he entered the room with.

"Dad," the three siblings all whispered at the same time.

Preston started to stand up, his brother and sister helped him with the struggle. "How is this possible?" Preston asked with tears swelling at the bottom of his eyes.

Payton, who had just stopped crying, had a few drops of tears roll down her face at random. She stood next to her brother Preston, biting her lower lip.

Parker was completely awestricken. He was the only one who wasn't crying, but the fact that he was speechless spoke enough for the young man.

"Magic," their father said. "Well aren't you guys going to give your dad a hug, they didn't send me down here forever you know."

Payton was the first person to embrace her father. She couldn't believe she was actually seeing, smelling, and most importantly, holding him again.

Parker looked over at his older brother, almost as if asking for permission to hug his father. Without a response from Preston, Parker ran over and joined in on the hug. Preston walked down to the bottom step, but didn't share in the group hug.

"I can't believe you're really here," Payton said stepping out of the hug and wiping her tears from her eyes.

"Well you better start believing it. I am very much here," Zell responded.

"But it doesn't make any sense, you're dead…" Parker added.

Zell looked over to his oldest son who was leaning up against the railing on the bottom step. "Preston, it's ok, you don't have to be on the defensive, not right now anyways."

Preston still stood in his same position. He blinked a couple of times and ran over to his father giving him a hug. "Is it really you? Please tell me it's really you."

"It is Preston. I'm here," Zell said closing his eyes and returning the hug. They pulled out of the hug. Preston's eyes were swollen with tears, but he fought them away.

"I don't understand," Preston stated shaking his head.

"Well that's why I'm here, to help you guys understand, to help you understand everything."

"What do you mean everything?" Payton questioned.

"Come on, lets go sit down," Zell said walking his children to the living room. They entered a fairly large living room. The carpet was tan, and the walls were white. Like the walls, the couches were white. They were leather couches the same exact size sitting directly across from each other, between them was a glass coffee table. To the left of the couches was the door they came through to get into the living room, to the right was an entertainment center with a large plasma screen television. Behind one couch was a large window that looked out to the street, behind the other was a large, framed, black and white photo of New York City.

Zell Callaway sat on the couch the faced the picture of New York. His three children sat across from him. Payton sat in the middle, Parker to her right sitting close to his older sister, and Preston to her left.

Preston still had many thoughts racing through his head. He was extremely skeptical and suspicious of the whole situation, but he couldn't deny the miracle his eyes were seeing. It was completely like Preston to be on the defensive about everything.

"You guys have no idea what's going on do you?" Zell chuckled.

Parker shook his head, Payton responded with a soft, "Nope."

"You're going to tell us what's going on right? I mean after all, I was stabbed by a psycho and my sister healed me, I'm hoping my dead father has some kind of explanation for it," Preston said sarcastically.

"You'll be happy to know that I do," Zell replied. Zell leaned forward in anticipation to the story he was about to tell his three children. "I'm a witch. A magical witch with magical powers, or at least I was. Your mother was a witch too, which makes you three witches. When your mother died, I decided to strip your powers and allow you guys to live normal lives."

"So the visions I saw… I got those because I'm a witch?" Parker wondered.

"Yes, and that leads me to my next point," Zell continued, "Because you three are natural born witches, you each have your own powers, powers that you are blessed with to help people with, and to protect yourselves from evil, unfortunately you witnessed the kind of evil you need to protect yourselves from just now."

"Ya, who was that guy?" Payton asked very intrigued with her father's words.

"He's a warlock, the warlock that killed me to get to you three. I can only assume he didn't know that I raised you guys as mortals and not as witches, and you were all off living your own lives; you two in New York," Zell said referencing to Preston and Payton, "And you in L.A." he said to Parker.

"You do know this is a lot to take in right? I mean if it wasn't for you being here before my very eyes, I wouldn't believe a word of this," Preston said.

'Why does he always have to be such a tight ass?' Parker thought to himself.

"I'm not being a tight ass, I'm just a little hesitant to accept all of this," Preston responded defensively.

"I didn't say that Preston… I thought it," Parker said in a spooked voice.

"Well I guess that gives you the power of telepathy, you and I have a lot more in common than you think," Zell said with a wink.

Preston was very quiet; at this point he would rather just listen to what his father had to say before he jumped to any more conclusions about anything.

"That means I have the power to heal right?" Payton asked, looking for some reassurance.

"Yes you do Payton," Zell said.

"Not that I'm not happy to see you daddy, but that still doesn't explain how and why you came back," Payton said standing up and walking over to her father. She sat down next to him resting her head on his shoulder.

"I was sent back, by some very powerful people, they saw Parker break the black mirror that I had stored your powers in," he looked at Parker and raised an eyebrow, "and they wanted me to ease you into this whole situation. I guess with your powers being gone for nineteen years, they were eager to be used," Zell joked.

"Yeah sorry about that," Parker stated with a sympathetic face.

"No, don't be sorry. I took away your birthright," Zell sighed. "I lost myself when I lost your mother. I felt like magic had failed me, and I didn't want to bring you guys up in a world like mine, but if I would have, things could have been a lot different. The important part is that you three have your gifts back, have your magic back, and you can start to live the lives you were meant to."

"Where's mom?" Preston asked completely off topic. "I mean you're here, why isn't she here."

"They only sent me down. They said because I was the one to raise you three, I would have to do the explaining." Zell paused. "In truth, I'm here on business, and you probably wont see me again."

"Well that's not fair, we're magical, can't we just bring you guys back?" Parker questioned naively.

"Magic doesn't work like that unfortunately."

Payton was holding onto her father a little tighter at this point, she didn't want to loose her father again.

"But that's why it's so important for me to be here. The most important thing to remember about your powers is you can't use them for any sort of personal gain. These powers are meant to protect and serve like a police officer, and a police officer can't go around taking advantage of people because of his authority and his weapons, it wouldn't be right, and you three can't go around doing that either. There are actions following the use of your magic, no matter how big or how small the use is. You also need to understand that bad people will be after your powers, demons and warlocks, like the one you faced today, so it's important for you guys to keep your gifts a secret."

"Why do they want our powers so badly?" Payton chimed in.

"Because the more magical powers they posses, the stronger they become, and the stronger they are, the more feared and respected they are. It's all about being on the top for them," Zell informed with passion in his eyes.

"What if we don't want these powers? I don't know about you, but there are things about people that I don't want to know," Preston said folding his arms and sitting back on the couch.

"Preston, these powers belong to you, I should have never stripped them, and you'll get better at them, you'll be able to turn it on and off when you wish. In fact, all your powers will grow. You'll learn how to control them to their fullest extent, and it's possible with the growth, you could develop new powers that may or may not correspond to the ones you already have."

"So I'll gain control over my power, I won't feel like I'm dieing every time a scene flashes in my head?" Parker asked.

"Yes Parker, I promise it will get better. The more you use them, the stronger they become, but like I said, just remember to use them in the right manor. Now another thing, sitting in my chest in my room, there's a large book, did you guys see it?"

Payton and Parker shook their heads.

"I think I might have, it was at the bottom, but I didn't know what it was," Preston replied.

"That's our Callaway's grimoire, and it's a very special book. I came from a long line of witches, and that book has spells, potions, and a plethora of information on all kinds of magical subjects dating back to the Salem witch trials. Let the book be your guide when ever you need advice, I promise you you'll almost always find your answer in that book, I should know, your mother and I wrote it," Zell said with a smile.

Suddenly a worried look came across Zell's face.

"Dad what's wrong?" Payton wondered pulling herself off his shoulder.

"I have to go. I don't understand why I have to leave so soon, but my time here is finished," Zell replied.

"No dad, you can't go right now, you just got here," Parker complained.

"I know, but they feel I did what I was sent here to do. Take care you guys." Zell turned towards his daughter giving her a hug. Payton started to shed some tears. Zell stood up and walked over to the couch opposite him. Parker and Preston stood up.

"You be good Parker, make sure not to give your brother too much of a hard time," Zell said winking, and giving his youngest son a hug. He then turned to his eldest child.

"I know you have a lot on your plate Preston, but don't ever give up on your brother and sister, and most importantly yourself. You'll find the things you have been searching for in time, and I really believe everything that has happened today will help you." Zell gave Preston a hug. Preston returned the hug, but was clearly thinking hard about the entire situation.

Zell pulled out of the hug and stood in the center of the living room. "You three together make up The Rose Coven, that's why there is a compass rose in the center of our family's crest. It will always guide you to where it is you need to be... so mote it be," Zell smiled. In the same white swirling lights that he entered the home with, he left with. Preston, Payton, and Parker were left behind to figure out their new destiny on their own from here on out.

"Did that really just happen?" Parker asked scratching the back of his head.

"I think so," Payton answered.

Preston sat back down on the couch, his eyes fixated on the coffee table; he was deep in thought.

"It's been a crazy day, I know," Payton said sitting down next to her brother hand on his shoulder.

"Doesn't this just all seem a little too surreal to you guys?" Preston stated shaking his head.

Parker sat down on the arm of the couch next to his older brother.

"Yeah, it does, but the fact of the matter is it is real," Parker responded.

"I don't know if I can believe this. I don't know what to believe anymore," Preston stood up and marched upstairs to the room he was staying in, slamming the door behind him.

Payton stood up to follow her brother, but Parker stopped her. "Let him go, he needs to be alone."

Payton sighed sitting back down. Parker scooted from the arm of the couch to one of the actual cushions, sitting right next to Payton.

"So what are we suppose to do from here?" Payton asked looking over to Parker.

"Well, dad did say that when we needed answers to look in that book," Parker said looking up the stairs.

"Than lets go see what that book has to tell us," Payton responded standing up.

Her and her younger brother walked up the stairs to their father's room. Parker opened the chest and pulled out at the heavy black book while his sister sat down on the bed. Parker sat down next to her and opened it up to a random page.

"They must have spent an awful long time making this book," Parker stated flipping through the book page by page.

"This thing is full of spells and demons," Payton added. "Look here," she said pointing to a page prompting her brother to stop turning the pages. "Banshee; A demon that prays on the broken heart. They emit a scream at a loud, high-pitched level in order to kill their victims. Take extra caution when dealing with Banshees, their sonic scream does not kill a love sick witch, it will transform a witch into a Banshee." Payton shook her head. "I always thought Banshee's were myths."

"I wonder if this book has anything on warlocks," Parker wondered.

He continued to flip through the pages of the grimoire until he eventually came across the word "Warlock" written in boldly at the top of a page in calligraphy.

"It says here that warlocks are witches that have gone down the path of evil by swearing their ligancy to the demon Lilith. Once a warlock, they posses the power to blink and materialize and their aging becomes slowed and deferred. There main focus is killing good witches in order to obtain their powers," Parker read aloud.

"Does it say anything about getting rid of them?"

Parker skimmed down the page.

"Yeah, you can destroy them with a vanquishing spell, vanquishing potion, or an offensive power, but it doesn't give any examples."

"Well I think we need to find something soon because I have a feeling that guy will be back," Payton said standing up. "I'm going to go make some tea, want to come down with me?"

"No, I think I'm going to stay up here and research this book more. The way to getting rid of that thing is in this book. I'd appreciate a cup though, and it might be a good idea to make Preston a cup, maybe go talk to him when you bring him some?" Parker responded with out looking up from the grimoire. He continued to flip through the pages.

"Ok, I'll be back." Payton walked downstairs to the kitchen.

She opened up the cupboard door and pulled out some tea packets. She took out a teapot from one of the bottom cupboards and placed it under the sink filling it with water and then proceeded to put it on the stove turning on the heat. As she waited for the water to boil, she leaned up against the one of the black marble counter tops and tilted her head back closing her eyes trying to take a moment to absorb everything that had just happened.

Back upstairs; Parker was transfixed on their grimoire. He was reading a page on witches, but there really wasn't a lot of information.

"Hm, maybe it's time to combine technology with history."

Parker jumped up and ran to his room grabbing his laptop and bringing it back into his father's room. He opened it up and pulled up a search web page, typing in the word "witches". Once the search engine had finished searching, Parker clicked the first link.

There were all kinds of information on witches, everything from the Salem Witch Trials to spell casting. Being one of the most known facts about witches, Parker instantly clicked the spell-casting tab.

Down the hall, Preston was in his room doing research of his own. He happened to be on the same website as Parker, only he was doing research on the Salem Witch Trials. He happened to come across the last name Callaway.

"What? I wonder if that's possible," Preston asked himself.

All of a sudden there was the sound of shattered glass coming from downstairs. Preston immediately left his computer desk and opened his bedroom door. He looked out to see his brother already running out of his room.

"Payton!" Parker yelled to his brother as the two of them ran down stairs into the kitchen.  
The warlock, Ian, was standing in front of Payton with his metal athame held out at her.

"You guys!" Payton yelled stepping over the broken glass she had dropped and dodging a jab from Ian. She ran over to her brothers, standing behind Parker.

"I told you I would be back," Ian snickered as he slowly walked towards the siblings trying to be intimidating.

The three of them backed up into the foyer, unsure what to do.

Ian sprang at the siblings. They each dodged the warlock, separating from each other. Preston backed up into the doorway between the foyer and the kitchen. Payton had ducked and was now on the floor while Parker dodged Ian by quickly moving to the side.

Ideas of how to banish this warlock were trailing through Parker's mind. Undoubtedly, fighting him off was Parker's first thought.

"I'll have your powers if it's the last thing I do!" The warlock shouted. Again Ian charged, this time bolting towards the nearest Callaway, Parker. With his athame tightly gripped he aimed it for Parker's stomach.

"Not if I can help it," Parker said aloud.

The young witch put his hands out and grabbed onto Ian as he was just about to strike Parker. Parker, with his hands firmly mounted on the enemy, moved to the side and cast Ian into the wall near the steps.

Detective Jacobs heard the commotion in the Callaway house from his car and instinctively associated it with trouble, however he stayed put. It wasn't like he had a warrant to enter their home. Besides, from out in the car the commotion was faint, and he couldn't clearly make out what might be going on in the home from his distance.

"Quick, upstairs!" Parker ordered to his older siblings.

Preston and Payton were frozen in fear, but at their brothers demand they snapped out of their trance. Preston raced to his sister to help her up and he and his brother and sister ran up the stairs.

"What do we do?" Payton asked, terrifying thoughts filling her head.

"We get rid of this thing once and for all," Preston explained. "Dad's room!"

The witches ran into their father's room, Preston locking the door behind them. Ian had stood up; devilish laughing could be heard from the bottom of the steps. Too cocky for his own good, Ian walked slowly up the stairs with an evil grin.

"What's your big plan Park?" Preston wondered with anticipation in his voice.

"Move the dresser in front of the door you two, our answer is in this book," Parker replied as he reached for the grimoire.

Preston and Payton didn't have a lot of faith in their brother, but at the moment he was the only one offering any sort of solution. The laughing was heard again, this time it sounded closer than before.

"Come on, come on, come up," Parker repeated as he hastily flipped through the pages.

"Hurry up!" Preston shouted.

Payton darted to her younger brother as Preston paced between his siblings and the barricaded door. At this point the laughing had stopped. It had been about ten seconds since they last heard Ian.

"You think he's gone?" Payton wondered turning towards her brothers for support.

Preston crept towards the door. _'They're making this too easy.' _Words from behind the door entered Preston's mind.

"Nope!" He yelled running over to Parker and Payton. Parker was still eagerly flipping the pages of the grimoire.

Smash! Ian had punched a hole through the door like it was a piece of Styrofoam. Again, laughing, almost taunting the inexperienced witches.

It was at this point, hearing shattered wood and shouting that Jacobs got out of his car. He gripped his gun approaching the colonial home. He quietly walked up the stairs of the front porch, listening attentively.

"Damn it!" Parker yelled. He couldn't seem to find the answer he was searching for.

Ian began kicking and hitting the door, slamming holes in it, wood pieces flying into the air. When he had created a big enough hole, he threw the dresser away from the door by gripping the edges with his hands and tossing it a few feet into the air, his strength was supernatural.

It was at this time when the pages in the magical grimoire began to turn on their own. Parker was awe stricken. His brother and sister had turned their attention away from the frightening warlock and were surprised to see the pages of the book spinning with out the aid of a human hand.

The pages stopped turning. Ian had reached his arm through the large hole in the door and unlocked it.

"Stupid witches," he laughed. He turned the knob on the door and swung it open, stepping into the room.

The open page in the grimoire read "Spell to Vanquish a Warlock". It was the qick solution to their demonic problem.

"Grab Preston's hand," Parker whispered to his sister. "Just trust me."

Payton had no idea what her younger brother had planned, but she was forced to believe in him and the magic she had witnessed today. She reached for Preston's hand. When she did, Preston looked down at their hands and then over to his sister who had a very nervous look on her face.

_'I hope Parker knows what he's doing,'_ Payton thought, her mental words entering Preston's mind.

"Now that I'm better prepared to deal with the three of you, I'll be happy to make your newly acquired powers my own," he said confidently.

Jacobs heard the slamming loud and clear. He opened the door pulling his gun out. Like a trained police officer, the detective moved swiftly from room to room on the bottom floor. He was on high alert and searching for the cause of the suspicious noises.

"Parker, you better have something planned," Preston said sternly.

"Planned? What could you three have planned? You know nothing about being witches. In fact, you've made killing you three all too easy for me," the warlock antagonized. He griped his metal blade tightly as a smile came across his face.

"This time, I won't miss," his voice had gotten deeper. Instead of a human voice, a darker, more chilling bass sound came from Ian's mouth.

"Angels of protection,

Angels of the abyss,

Remove this warlock

From our midst," Parker chanted.

"No!" Ian yelled. It looked as though a bomb had gone off in his stomach when he had exploded into the air around them.

The force from the vanquished warlock had been so strong that it had flung the three siblings back, knocking them into the wall behind them and to the ground. The book had flung out of Parker's hands and hit the floor. Upon landing on the ground, the grimoire seemed to be pushed under the bed by the same invisible force that turned its pages.

Detective Jacobs had heard the explosion from upstairs. He quickly, but cautiously sprang up the stairs. He could see the open door from where he was standing, a dresser turned over and debris on the floor. He approached the room and entered drawing his gun. "Nobody move!"

What he saw were the three siblings struggling to get up from the ground. The smell of smoke and ash filled the air, but there was no visible sign of any fire. When he saw the three siblings were on the ground hurt, he lowered his guard only slightly peering around the room.

"What are you doing here?" Preston said standing up and dusting himself off.

"I'll be the one asking the questions here," the eager detective said. "What the hell just happened here?"

"You wouldn't believe us if we told you," Parker said sarcastically rubbing the back of his head, checking his hand for any blood.

Payton turned her attention immediately to Parker.

"Shh!" She said giving her brother a look as if to keep what had just happened a secret.

"Oh yeah? Try me," Detective Jacobs said with out even stopping to look at them. "Where the hell is that realtor?"

Detective Jacobs began roaming the upstairs of the house. He went from room to room, but couldn't find anything.

"What do we do now?" Payton questioned.

It was just their luck that they had destroyed one threat only to be attacked by another.

"You think there's a spell in the grimoire to get rid of detectives?" Parker inappropriately joked.

"Not… funny…" Preston replied with a very serious look on his face.

It was at the moment that Jacobs had come back into the room. "I want answers and I want them now."

"He… he…" Parker was trying to come up with a good explanation for why the disguised warlock was no longer in the home.

"We told him to leave. We wanted to sell our home, but we decided we couldn't do that to our father," Preston quick-wittedly said.

"Ok. Why didn't I see him leave the house? I watched him walk up to your house and go through the front door, but I never saw him leave," the detective argued.

"You were spying on us?" Payton questioned.

"You're damn right I was spying on you. There's something going on here, and I want to know what it is right now."

"Well detective. He clearly left through the back door. We were outside in the backyard when we decided we wanted to keep our childhood home. It's pretty simple if you ask me," Preston added. "Would you like to check the rest of the house?"

"Is that so? I don't buy your story. I will get to the bottom of this, you can count on that," Jacobs said as he put is gun away and marched out of the room and down the stairs to the front door, the three siblings behind him. "We'll be in touch."

"Have a good day detective," Preston said sarcastically.

Detective Jacobs opened the door and stormed to his car. He got in it, started it, and screeched off in his white undercover Ford Taurus. Preston, Payton, and Parker all stood at the door watching him drive away.

"Why didn't we just tell him what really happened?" Parker asked.

"You know, he's right. Now that I think about it, it might have just been a good to tell him the truth. We didn't do anything wrong," Payton chimed in.

"He wouldn't have believed it. He would have thought we were crazy. Or even worse, he would have believed it and locked us up for being freaks," Preston answered headed back up stairs. He stopped just before he was about to take his first step onto the staircase. "No one can find out about this. We have to keep it a secret. There's a reason people think stuff like this is all pretend," he said turning around. Payton closed the door and her and her brother walked over to Preston, meeting him at the bottom staircase.

"That I agree with," Payton said. "At least until we figure this all out completely."

"Awe man. I was really looking forward to telling my baseball buds about my fun trip home. Burying my dad, seeing the future, my brother almost dieing, my sister healing him, my dead dad coming back from the dead to tell my siblings and I that we are these magical witches. Oh and you can't forget us killing an evil realtor, and a detective thinking there's funny business going on in this house," Parker states nonchalantly. "Well, he is actually right about that," he says aside to himself.

"Parker!" Preston yells.

Payton can only look at him with wide eyes.

"Kidding! I was only kidding," Parker said putting his hands up in defense. "Do you want me to get laughed off the baseball team and out of school?"

"I'm curious though. How did you know how to… vanquish him?" Payton asked folding her arms.

"Research sis. See, the main ability a witch has is the ability to cast spells. If we were really witches we could do just about anything with a little rhyme. It was important that we were connected when saying the spell, the power of a spell increases with the number of casters. And dad said that the grimoire would have all the answers we needed, so I figured the book would contain a spell to send that guy back to hell," Parker informed.

"Well that was very fast thinking on your part Parker, I'm proud of you," Preston said.

"Thanks Preston," Parker replied. It was very rare that Parker ever got a compliment from his older brother. He knew he had done something right.

"What do you say we all finish clearing out dad's room together? And who knows, maybe we can all look in the book together?" Payton wondered looking up at Preston.

Preston sighed. "Ok, but that doesn't mean I'm going to go along with this. You guys can play make believe all you want, but if that book has a way of making this go away, then I will highly consider that."

_'Yeah right,'_ Parker thought.

"Ugh, yeah I am right…. And that's exactly why, I can hardly handle my own thoughts let alone everyone else's." Preston shook his head as he walked up to his father's room. Payton and Parker followed him up there, shrugging off their brother's temper.

***

"So you're really going to go through with this?" Payton asked.

Payton and Parker were sitting at the small circular table in the kitchen. It was early the next morning, and they were both still in their pajamas. Payton had a mug of tea in front of her and Parker was sipping on a cup of orange juice.

"It just feels right. L.A. isn't the place for me," Parker replied. "You remember how much I struggled my first year at UCLA?"

"Well I just don't want you making any rash decision, but I'm behind you one hundred percent," she smiled.

Preston walked into the kitchen, he too wearing his pajamas. He immediately grabbed a mug and started to prepare himself a cup of coffee.

_'Uh oh,'_ Payton thought.

Preston stopped what he was doing and instantly turned around to face his brother and sister.

"What aren't you telling… Oh wow," Preston stated just realizing Parker's decision. "That's a big deal Park."

"Ok, if I really do stay you better learn how to control that mind thing of yours," Parker said slightly frustrated.

"Yeah, for both our sakes," Preston said stepping away from the coffee maker. He took a seat next at the table. "What are you going to do school wise and where will you live?"

"Well, I would have to take the semester off, it's too late to start at a community college. I'll find a job and someone who's looking for a roommate. I'm sure some of my old friends from high school might need a roommate."

Payton thought for a moment. "Well, what if we all moved back home? I really don't want to loose our childhood home, and I don't think dad would want us selling it either."

"That's a big deal Payton. Are you really serious about that?" Preston asked.

"I actually don't think I've ever been so sure about something before. Would you be able to move back here?"

"Well, I would have to stay another month in my apartment, my lease isn't up until September, but I really don't want to get rid of this house either. Dad put a lot of work into it."

"So this is really happening?" Parker questioned. "I'll leave Los Angeles and Payton and I will live here for a month by ourselves until you move back in next month?"

"Don't think I wont check up on you two while I'm not here, I know what kind of trouble you two have been known to get into," Preston said.

"Well, I better call my roommates," Payton said with a laugh.

"I have a good feeling about this, I really do," Parker responded.

"Let's just hope we're doing the right thing," Preston added.

Preston stood back up to check on his coffee while Payton got up to get on the phone. The three of them continued their morning business. The start of a new life just manifested for the three Callaway siblings, one full of many battles, many discoveries, and many ups and downs.


	5. Mental Problems Episode Two

Mental Problems

(Episode Two)

"Did you know there are spells for creating money?" Parker said following his sister downstairs with the grimoire spread open in his hands.

"I really don't think getting money is as simple as chanting a few words," Payton replied. "Besides, I didn't ask you to look for anything about money, I asked you to find something that would help Preston with his headaches."

Payton and Parker proceeded into the living room. They each sat side-by-side on one of the couches. Parker placed the grimoire in between them on the glass coffee table that rested in front of them.

"Well I just thought it might be a good idea considering I'm not going to school this semester and finding a job is going to be damn near impossible… I know! I'll cast a spell to get me a job!" Parker exclaimed with a big smile.

Payton turned to give her younger brother a very disgusted look. She shook her head and began flipping through the pages.

"Preston needs some relief right now. Besides, I think if he wasn't plagued with those splitting headaches he would be in a much better state of mind to start accepting this whole witch thing."

"Not to mention he'd be in a much better mood," Parker joked. "Do you think his headaches are tied to his powers? I know when I get a vision I swear my head is going to rip open."

"It's possible, but Preston said he hasn't heard someone else's thoughts since that warlock a couple weeks ago." Payton continued to fan through the large book, but was getting frustrated at the amount of pages there were in the grimoire. She looked up at the clock and sighed.

"This book is way too big, I don't have enough time to go through every page," Payton stated standing up. "I have to get ready for my class. Can you please keep looking?"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah… This book won't leave my sight."

Parker pulled the book from the table and placed it on his lap.

"Thanks," Payton added as she headed up stairs to change.

"Now this is nice," Parker said to himself. "A spell to attract women."

***

Preston was walking down a busy street in Manhattan, New York. He was caring a few boxes to the local Goodwill. The sidewalk was flooded with eager New Yorkers carrying about their business on the sunny afternoon.

Preston's blue eyes wondered from person to person. Since becoming a witch, Preston has been on edge. He didn't know who to trust or who was out to get him. It didn't help him any that his telepathy wasn't working, a problem created from his small mind.

"Oh no…" Preston said to himself taking a deep breath. A sharp pain struck the temples of his head.

It was only a single stab at his mind. Preston continued to walk, trying to shake off the pain until he could drop his boxes off and call his siblings.

A few more steps forward and another jolt of agony shot through his head.

"Not now!" The pain continued to sting his head like a swarm of wasps. It was at that moment that he started to hear whispering in his mind.

The whispering started off as one voice, but slowly invited the whispering thoughts of others into his mind. The thoughts started off quiet and increased in volume along with the number of people's thoughts.

"Oh god!" Preston screamed out in pain. He dropped the boxes from his hands and they hit the floor. Soon everything he could possibly hear with his ears became silent in comparison to the screaming thoughts of the New Yorkers.

_'If I don't hurry I'm going to be late.'_

_'I can't believe that dick stood me up!'_

_'What am I going to do about rent?'_

The thoughts were so many that each individual one combined and became a loud rumble of voices too much for Preston to handle. He grabbed his head and crouched as he slowly made his way to the comfort of the side of a building.

"Shut up, shut up, shut up, shut up, shut up!" He screamed out in misery and then blacked out.

***

"Preston…" A faint voice said.

Preston was coming out of a deep sleep when he heard his name being called and slowly opened his eyes. He blinked a few times taking in his surroundings. He was in a small room lying in a hospital bed with a white hospital robe on. However, this hospital room was a bit on the dark side. The only light in the room was coming through a window behind him, and there wasn't much of it.

"It's nice to see you awake," said a charming young doctor with short blonde hair and brown eyes. He was dressed in a nice button-up shirt and black pinstriped pants worn under a white doctor's coat. A pin that read "Dr. Gaffney" was attached to the front of his robe and his hand held a clipboard with medical papers clipped to it.

Preston struggled to sit up; it was extremely hard for him to use any of his strength.

"What happened?" Preston asked still struggling.

"It might be a good idea if you just lye down, you're not in much of a condition to move about," the doctor smiled. "Well… that's what I want to find out. Someone called 911 because you were unconscious on the street. What happened before you blacked out Preston?"

Preston was hesitant to say anything about his condition. He knew he couldn't tell the doctor about his gift, but at the same time he needed medical advice and couldn't lie to the doctor.

"The last thing I remember is sharp pains in my head. It was like a headache, but ten times as worse," Preston replied sitting back in his bed and getting comfortable.

"And was this the first time this happened?"

Preston shook his head. "No, it started a couple weeks ago and it keeps getting worse."

He started to feel a little uneasy. "Do you mind if I call my brother or sister," he looked closely at the doctor's name tag, "Dr. Gaffney?"

"Not at all Preston," the doctor smiled. "I'm just going to take some blood first so I can run some tests. Is that ok?"

Preston just wanted to talk to his siblings, but wanted to help the doctor in any way possible. "Yeah that's fine."

***

"I'm off to work Parker; I'll be home in a couple of hours. Stay out of trouble," Payton yelled from the opened front door.

"Bye Sis!" Parker shouted back from the living room.

His head was facing the spell book in front of him, but his eyes were turned towards the door. Once he heard his sister close the door he jumped up from the couch and proceeded to his father's room with the grimoire.

In his father's room, Parker went straight for the old chest that contained the wiccan paraphernalia. He pulled out five thick, circular, red candles from the chest as well as a box of matches.

Upon pulling out the candles, Parker placed them in five separate locations surrounding him on the floor so that it would appear to be five points of a pentacle.

He smiled devilishly as he stood up, leaving the book opened in the center of the candle-made pentacle.

"Just a few more things," he said to himself walking out of his father's room and into his and his brother's shared bathroom. He opened the mirror above the large marble sink and pulled out his cologne and hair wax. From that point, he proceeded to his own bedroom and grabbed his favorite button-up shirt; a black, long-sleeved, silk shirt with angel wings on the back made out of rhinestones.

"Perfect," he said and headed back to his fathers room.

Parker sat back down inside the pentacle placing the book in his lap. He neatly placed his shirt directly in front of him, followed by his cologne to the right and his hair wax to the left. After everything was in its correct place, Parker closed his eyes and took three deep breaths, than re-opened them staring at the incantation in his lap.

"I call upon Athena, goddess of love,

Hear my plea in the heavens above.

Grant me the gifts of charm, wit, and passion,

Of sex appeal, and good fashion.

Like the items before me, which I feel make me attractive,

Let it be known to all woman, make their lust for me active.

Open their eyes and ears to my call,

I command the attention from women all!

So mote it be."

At the very moment Parker finished the spell, the flames on the red candles grew four feet into the air. Sweat seeped from the pours of his face and arms because of the increase in the temperature. Out of each candle came a pinkish red marble-sized ball of light that encircled Parker several times. The lights were spinning faster and faster until they entered his body. Once they had disappeared into his body, Parker began to glow the same color light, then the light vanished just as quickly as it had appeared. When the glow from his body had dissipated, the flames went back down to their original size, and then went out; almost as if a breeze from an open window had put them out however, the windows in the room were not open.

"That was awesome," Parker whispered with a small grin on his face. "I think it's time to see if this spell worked."

Parker closed the book and set it down on his shirt. He stood up and walked into his room grabbing a jacket and his wallet.

Heading out of his room he trotted down the stairs, a light skip in his step and a grin on his face. He opened up one of the double doors and stepped out closing it behind him.

***

_'Where is he,'_ Preston thought to himself.

He was sitting upright; he was in much better condition. He wasn't sure if it was any medications the doctor might have given him, or if his head ache spells just passed. What ever it was, Preston was just happy to be in a healthier state of mind.

Shuffling could be heard from outside the small room. The sound of footsteps seemed to echo throughout the hall.

"Alright Mr. Callaway, I've got your test results back." The young doctor stepped into the room closing the door behind him.

"And…" Preston was hesitant to figure out what might be wrong with him.

"You're a witch," Dr. Gaffney said simply.

Preston was taken back at the doctor's remark. His pupils seemed to dilate when confronted with the good doctor's accusation.

"I'm a… I'm a what?" Preston tried to play foolish; however lying wasn't one of Preston's strong points.

"Oh, you heard me loud and clear Preston," the doctor responded.

Preston quickly jumped up out of the bed. "How do you know about that?"

The doctor laughed. His chestnut eyes went completely black. Darkness seemed to fill the entire area of his eyes. His voice became low and deep, it seemed to sound demonic.

"You know how I know," the demonic doctor stated. He grabbed a surgical knife from a table top nearby.

_'I can't believe this,'_ Preston thought.

"You better believe it. This is your life now Preston. We'll hunt you down every day until you're dead," the demon doctor laughed a devilish chuckle.

"How did you… but that's my…" Preston slowly backed up, but he was only backing himself into a wall.

The doctor jumped up onto the very bed Preston was just in. He floated upwards and forward. It was an unsettling sight.

"This is what you get for being a witch," he snarled.

All Preston could do was continue backing up until he was pressed against the wall. He shook his head and closed his eyes sinking down to the floor, the doctor's laugh taunting the poor man.

"No! Leave me alone! I'm not a witch!" Preston shouted.

The demonic laughing stopped. Preston was unable to see Dr. Gaffney disappear into a cloud of black smoke; Preston was sitting on the floor with his head in his arms.

He peeked a crystal-blue eye out from underneath his arm, seeing that there was nobody there he raised his head entirely.

"What is going on?" He said to himself. Preston noticed his clothes sitting on a chair next to the bed. Before the demonic doctor had time to come back and finish Preston off, he wanted to make sure he was long gone, preferably back at the Callaway House with his brother and sister.

He put his clothes back on. His pants first followed by his shirt. Preston was in far too much of a hurry to put his shoes on. Preston sped out of the small hospital room and entered the hallway; a long hallway with doors paralleling themselves on either side. There were white walls, a white ceiling, and a white marble floor. The doors however were entirely black. The hallway seemed to stretch on forever on either side. It was as if a nightmare fun house had sprung to life.

"This is impossible," Preston stated. He began walking down the hallway, staying close to the wall. He was paranoid, waiting for the doctor to show up behind him.

Preston continued to dart down the never-ending hallway, but the hallway _was_ in fact, never-ending. Everything was the same, and just as Preston thought he had reached the point where the hallway ended, the walls around him appeared to stretch out into the abyss. It became evident that the only way out of this hospital was going to be through one of the many black doors, but which one would it be?

***

"What'll it be?" A man at a local coffee shop stated to Parker. The barista was no older than Parker.

"Carmel Frap," Parker said confidently. It was his favorite drink. He loved the cold mocha beverage on warm Southern Californian days; it didn't matter to him that he was back on the east coast.

There were three girls a little younger than Parker's age standing behind him in line. They were giggling and making comments about how cute he was. Parker looked back a smiled at the teenagers. '_That's not what I had in mind,' _he thought to himself.

"Is that gonna do it for ya?" The barista asked. Parker nodded as the man gave him his total. He pulled out his wallet and paid for his drink, than moved to the other side of the counter.

Parker leaned up against the counter facing the crowd in the trendy coffee shop. All of the women were staring at the young man, winking and sending Parker all sorts of signals.

He chuckled to himself. The barista placed Parker's drink on the counter. He turned around and picked it up thanking the man who prepared his drink. When he turned around his attention was focused on a woman with long dark brown hair and hazel eyes sitting alone. She appeared to be Parker's age; her college text books implied it. She was wearing a black blouse and dark blue skinny jeans. Her slip-ons matched her blouse and the dark clothing made her red lip stick pop.

She glanced at Parker and smiled. A white grin countered the girls smile. He took a sip of his icy beverage and approached the girl.

"Hey there," Parker said.

"Hi," the girl replied. She was biting her lip looking him up and down. Parker let out a bashful laugh.

"Is anyone sitting here?"

"Not yet."

"Good," Parker responded taking a seat across from her, setting his wallet and drink down on the table. "My name's Parker." He reached out his arm to shake the girl's hand.

"Lauren," she returned the handshake. "So why'd you decide to come sit with me Parker? I can't say that I don't enjoy your company."

"Well Lauren…" Parker was interrupted by another girl, slightly older than he. She was blonde; her hair was in French braided pig tails, her eyes a deep green.

"I'm sorry, but do I know you?" She glared at Lauren before Parker turned around, than gave him a smile.

"I uh… don't think so," Parker politely returned the smile.

"I know what it is. You look just like the man of my dreams," she flirted. Parker laughed.

Lauren gave the intruding woman a bitter face. "Cute. Did you come up with that all by your self?" She said sarcastically.

The woman crossed her arms. "I'm pretty sure you're late for your upper lip wax. It's almost five o'clock and that shadow looks like it came in around one."

"Hey, come on now, there's no need to be like that," Parker said standing up.

"Shut up!" The two women shouted at the same time. Lauren stood up with her coffee in hand. At this point other woman in the coffee shop approached the circular table. Not to help, but to involve themselves in the territorial fight.

Parker backed up slowly. The woman were yelling at one another, acting catty and spitting out "sluts" and "bitches" left and right.

"Uh oh…" Parker said to himself. More and more women were getting involved in the verbal battle. They seemed to be arguing over Parker.

"Did they decide to kick the trash off the corner?" The blonde haired woman said to Lauren.

"You bitch!" Lauren opened the lid on her coffee cup and tossed the hot black liquid on the blonde. The fight was escalading.

"That's my cue," Parker said aloud. He turned around and headed out the door, leaving the confused men to deal with the mess of the dramatic women.

Now on the streets outside, Parker was still in trouble. He walked down the sidewalk with woman winking at him left and right, some grabbing his butt, others licking their lips. It was as if Parker sexually charged all the women he came in contact with.

_'Something went terribly wrong here,'_ he thought. He continued walking down the street. Parker looked back and noticed a crowd of woman walking swiftly up the street in Parker's direction. _'Crap!'_

Parker sped his brisk walking to a light jog. He saw what the women back at the coffee shop were capable of and he didn't want to face that again.

Ring! Ring! Parker reached down into his pocket pulling out his silver flip cell phone. It was his sister.

"Hello…" he said still jogging through crowds of people. He needed to get home and fast.

"Where are you?" Payton sounded extremely upset.

"I'm in town. What's wrong?" Parker seemed to display his own worry when his sister spoke.

"Preston's in the hospital, he's in a coma."

Parker's stomach sank to the ground. He felt terrible for not being at home, for casting this reckless spell.

"What happened?" Parker turned a corner into an ally. He went and sat behind some dumpsters, hoping the women didn't see him in there.

"The doctors don't know, it's like his brain just shut off," a tear fell down Payton's cheek. "Parker this can't happen. There has to be some sort of… I don't know… witch explanation for this."

"Everything will be fine Payton. Just come get me, we'll get the grimoire, and we'll go to the hospital. We'll do anything we can to help him," Parker reassured.

Payton took a deep breath. "Ok, where will you be?"

"Downtown, I'm in an alleyway. I think it's on Fourth Street, right before Market."

"Why are you in an alley Parker?"

"I'll explain everything when you get here, just hurry."

***

Preston was still walking through the corridors of the hospital. He was getting tired of walking, especially when his path didn't lead anywhere.

It had been a while since the mad doctor had tried to kill him, the laps in time helped to lower Preston's guard. He decided to open a door.

Preston stopped and faced one of the black doors. _'Here goes nothing,'_ he thought. His thought echoed through the never ending corridor, it was as if a microphone was in his mind amplifying his thoughts around him.

He took a deep breath and put his hand on the knob in front of him. Turning it he closed his eyes and stepped in. When he opened them he was in an office building. There were giant posters of celebrities on the wall facing the door Preston had just come through. The posters were magazine covers; the magazine was titled "F.L.E. Magazine". It was Preston's work place.

He looked around as people were working on computers in cubicles. There was a receptionist sitting at the front counter.

"Hey Preston," she said with a smile.

"Hey… Maggie…" Preston had no idea how he was transported to his work.

"Nice outfit!" She added.

"I… uh…" He looked down at himself seeing that his clothes had changed too. He was wearing a black, long sleeved, silk button-up dress shirt tucked into black and gray pin striped pants. An expensive black DKNY belt held his pants up, the silver buckle shinning. His shoes were beautifully polished black dress shoes. His sleeves were slightly rolled up, allowing his small tattoo on his wrist to show. It read "love" and was written in cursive. "Thanks."

She smiled and went back down to her paper work. Preston walked through the office as if it were his first time. He made his way over to his desk. Seeing his phone, he was struck with an idea.

He sat down in his chair and pulled the receiver off the hook. He began to dial his siblings at the Callaway House.

"Come on, pick up guys," he whispered. Nobody was picking up, the phone just rang continuously. It was bizarre because they had an answering machine.

"Hey Preston glad you could make it into the office today," a woman in her forties said. She had short curly red, gold, and blonde hair. She was dressed in business attire. A black blazer and black pencil skirt to match.

"Yeah Kathy," he said with a weak cricked smile. He pulled the phone away from his ear hanging it up.

"Now that you're here…" she paused reaching into her blouse pulling out a dagger, "I'm going to have to kill you." Her eye sockets turned pitch black, just as the doctors did, and her voice turned demonic.

"Not again!" Preston shouted standing up.

Everyone in the office seemed to go about their normal business, as if they couldn't see their editor threatening Preston with a knife. Preston hopped onto the counter of the cubicle.

"You guys! Call the police!" He shouted, but nobody was listening.

His editor laughed. The same demonic chuckle he heard back in his hospital room. She hopped up on the counter next to him, twirling the blade in the air in front of her. "They don't care Preston. No one cares, not when you're a witch!"

Preston crawled over to the other cubicle, knocking stacks of papers and pictures off the counters. He made it to the ground and ran into the walkway.

"Why are you guys just standing there? Do something!" Still, nobody paid any attention to Preston's distress call. "Screw it!"

Kathy jumped up into the air and landed near Preston, almost banshee like. "Stop fighting it Preston, you're meant to die just like your mother and father," the demon said.

Preston looked over his shoulder and ran for the door, Kathy running after him. At first she was running on her legs, than moved to all four, gripping the ground with her feet and hands, running along the side of the wall to the ceiling.

"Holy shit," Preston whispered looking up at demon he called boss.

She was directly on top of him; her head tilted backwards looking down at the witch. Preston was nearing the door. He lunged for the door as the demon jumped down from the ceiling. He grabbed the handle turning it and flew through the door into the next room.

***

"You did what?" Payton shouted trying to keep her focus on the road.

"I know, I know, it was dumb, but I was curious about how this whole magic thing worked," Parker explained.

Payton sighed as she rounded a corner; they were only a few blocks from their house. "We'll deal with this later; right now we're going to use this magic to save our brother."

The white, two-door, Scion TC turned another corner onto Whittaker Street. The car slowed down as it approached the circular drive-way.

"Why is the door open?" Parker questioned as his sister put the car in park.

"That's a really good question Park," she answered.

Payton and Parker slowly got out of the white sports car, taking extreme precaution to quietly close the doors. Parker waited for his sister to walk around the front side of the car so they could approach the house together.

"Do you think it's safe to go in?" Payton wondered as they slowly walked up the steps to the porch.

"Only one way to find out…"

They stepped through the front door together, silently walking through the foyer. Parker put his hand out, slightly opening the door to the family room.

"I don't see anything," he whispered, still peering into the other room.

"Maybe they're gone?" Payton suggested trying to look over her brother's shoulder into the other room.

The sound of a cocking gun was heard behind the siblings. They swiftly turned around to see a woman with dark hair holding a gun to their faces; it was Lauren.

"Why did you leave me Parker?" She said tilting her head.

"Uh… Lauren?" Parker had a look of confusion written all over his face. "I didn't… How did you know where I lived?"

Payton didn't move or speak. She simply looked from her brother to the deranged woman.

"You left your wallet silly," she smiled pulling out his wallet from her jacket pocket and dropping it on the floor.

"Parker, how do you know this girl," Payton whispered.

"Shut up!" Lauren screamed, shaking the gun violently in Payton's face. She gripped her brother tightly in fear. "Who is this tramp? You can't have Parker, he's mine!"

"Lauren, you don't understand, she's my sister," Parker tried to explain.

"Still, just to be safe," Lauren put the gun directly in Payton's face.

"No, don't!" Parker yelled. Payton was scared to the point of tears.

Lauren turned her head to Parker, her gun still pointed at Payton.

"I can't stop thinking about you Parker, ever since I laid eyes on you today. You made me feel… you made me feel like a woman," Lauren moved her arm down and began to rant in a belligerent tone. "I want you Parker. When I close my eyes, all I see is you. Your smell, it's amazing. Let's run away together Parker, just you and I."Lauren you're not in the right mind. If you just let us go, I can fix this," Parker stated, slowly stepping towards her.

She smiled; the gun was aimed towards the floor at this point. "Fix what baby? There's nothing to fix." She stepped towards Parker, her eyes trailing the masculine features of Parker's face. She closed her eyes and leaned up to kiss Parker. Parker, being the quick thinker that he was, leaned down to kiss the mad woman, his gaze was firmly placed upon the gun. As soon as there lips locked, he grabbed Lauren's arm and twisted it, moving underneath her arm, forcing her to drop the gun to the floor because of the pain.

Parker made a quick reach for the gun and pulled his hand up holding the gun to Lauren. "Payton go call the police."

Payton nodded and ran into the family room to get on the phone.

"You don't want me?" Lauren asked, distress filling her eyes. She began shaking her head rapidly, running her fingers through her hair like a psychiatric patient. "Why don't you want me?" She repeated. Her rapid movements suddenly came to a halt. "Fine, if I can't have you no one will." She charged at Parker.

Parker steadied himself, but her momentum knocked the two of them to the floor. She began scratching him and tearing at him like a wild animal. Parker struggled with her until he eventually rolled on top of her and pinned her to the ground.

"Payton, go get me some rope!" He yelled trying to hold the crazy woman down.

She had just hung up the phone with the police department and ran back into the foyer seeing her brother fighting with the girl.

"The police are on their way," she said running up stairs to the attic to find some sort of rope to tie Lauren down with. She dug around in some old boxes until she eventually found some rope. She hastily ran back down stairs. "I got it."

Parker held onto Lauren's arms with his hands as she thrashed about. He rolled her over on her stomach and tied her hands together than eventually made his way around her entire body with the rope. Once she was contained he rolled her back over on her back.

"Why are you doing this?" Lauren cried.

Parker stood up and took a few deep inhales trying to catch his breath. He started to feel even worse about casting the spell. Grabbing his sister's arm he walked into the living room. "You need to get to the hospital."

"I can't just leave you here," Payton replied. "Besides, we need to find a spell in the book to save Preston."

"Look, someone has to wait for the police to show up and take Lauren. I'll stay here and do that, than as soon as she's gone, I'll reverse the stupid spell I cast and come to the hospital with the grimoire."

Payton was worried. She started to frown. "I don't think that's a good idea, bringing that book in the hospital like that." Payton took a deep breath and thought for a moment. "I'll stay here with you and help you reverse the spell. Than we'll look for another spell for Preston until the police come, that way we can go together and just write the spell down on a piece of paper."

Parker was hesitant, but he agreed. "Come on," he said as they jotted upstairs to their father's old room.

They briskly walked through the newly repaired door to the master bedroom. The grimoire was still sitting in the same position it was in after Parker had cast his spell.

"So how do we reverse this spell Parker?" Payton questioned.

Parker reached down and picked the book up flipping through the pages. "With this…"

He had stopped on a page that had the words "Reversal Spell" written on the top.

"What was cast is now undone,

Forget the words that I spun.

A simple spell not meant to last,

Make no more the spell I cast," Parker read from the book.

The pink lights that entered Parker's body were cast out like a banished member of a tribe. The lights circled around his body, counter clockwise, and dissipated into the air around him.

"I'm going to say it's safe to assume that worked," Payton stated.

Parker set the book down on the large bed and ran back down stairs to check on Lauren. The poor girl was sitting on the ground tied up unaware of the events that had happened.

"How did I get here? Why am I tied up?" She was frightened and confused.

_'What did I do,'_ Parker thought to himself. He huffed walking over to the helpless girl and started to untie her. "You have no idea what just happened?"

Lauren was distrustful, but didn't feel ill intentions from Parker. "No," she said softly, "what happened?"

"Something entirely screwed up," he said in reference to himself as he finished untying her. "I suggest you get home Lauren, it's not a good idea to ask anymore questions."

Lauren stared at Parker trying to figure out what he meant, but gave up quickly. She sighed and stood up, heading for the open door and out onto the street.

Parker stood up and closed the door after Lauren had left. He shook his head in disgust to himself. He quickly trotted back upstairs to his sister.

"How's the love sick girl?" Payton wondered. She was sitting on the bed with the book in her lap.

"Confused, but she's fine," he sighed and sat down next to Payton.

Payton gave her brother a weak smile as he looked down at the book in Payton's lap. She could tell he was upset with himself, but knew there wasn't much she could do about it.

"So what's the plan?" Parker wondered.

Payton looked back down at the book and continued flipping through the pages searching for a spell to help her soma-stricken brother.

"I'm hoping there's some kind of spell to bring someone out of a coma."

"Why can't you just heal him?"

"I don't think my healing works on the mind… I'd have to," she stopped. A spell she had just turned to seemed to speak to her, "I'd have to be inside his mind."

"Wait, stop right there. You think we could actually enter Preston's mind?"

"I don't know, but look at everything else that has happened. The spell you did is proof that we're capable of doing some pretty supernatural things."

Parker was very hesitant, especially after the spell he had cast that went array. "I don't know Payton."

"Parker, we have to try."

"What if we just wait until he comes out of the coma? I know I sound like a totally hypocrite here, but we witnessed the side effects to our magic."

"Because I don't think his physical state is something normal, I have this feeling it has to do with his powers," Payton said looking over to her brother. "We just lost dad, I can't loose another person I care about, I just can't do it."

Parker took a deep breath and nodded. In that same instance the sound of a doorbell ringing could be heard throughout the house.

"Oh no, that's got to be the police," Parker stated.

"Ok, you get rid of them while I go grab something. We're going to need something of Preston's for this to work."

Parker nodded as he headed back downstairs. Payton followed her brother out the bedroom door and walked towards her brothers' bathroom.

***

The door to the Callaway House closed behind Preston. The clothing he wore was exactly the same as before. The house was quiet, dim and dark. In Preston's opinion, everything was normal however, he still had his guard up.

He slowly walked through the foyer passing the sliding door into the family room and the open frame to the living room. Preston gripped the railing to the stairs and cautiously walked up to the second floor. He turned right, heading for his room at the end of the hall.

"Preston!" Payton yelled from behind Preston. She and Parker were walking out of their father's room on the opposite side of the hall.

"You're ok." Parker added.

Payton and Parker ran over to their older brother. Preston took small steps backwards.

"Preston, what's wrong?" Parker wondered.

"Stay away from me," Preston demanded as he continued to back up.

Payton and Parker looked at each other and smiled. They looked back at Preston; eyes black as coal.

"Not again," Preston turned around and ran for his bedroom, slamming the door shut behind him and locking it. He looked around for a way out; he turned towards the bathroom door.

It was his plan to follow the bathroom to his brother's room, than out the door and into his father's room on the other side of the hallway.

Smash! His bedroom door busted open. Demonic versions of Payton and Parker entered Preston's room only to find it empty.

Preston looked out of Parker's room for the demons that were after him. He ran out of the room and into his father's room. He locked the door and headed straight for the chest.

"There has to be something in that damn book to get rid of them," he said opening the chest. The chest was empty.

"Damn it! Where's that freak'n book!"

There was pounding on the door. The noise moved from the door and encircled the entire room, turning into a booming noise. The walls began to shake and rattle which each and every boom.

"You can't hide brother," the demonic Payton said.

"You can never hide from us," Parker added.

The lock on the door magically turned. The handle slowly began to move.

Parker shook his head and fell to the floor. "Why is this happening?" He curled up, his knees close to his chest and his head tucked into his knees. The door swung open hard, but there was no one there.

***

"Are they gone?" Payton asked as her brother came walking back into their father's room.

"Yep, I told them the crazy girl got away. They wanted me to press charges, but I told them no. I said it was some homeless woman," Parker explained.

"Good." Payton was writing the spell down on a note pad. Next to her was a zip-lock baggy that had some hair in it. "Alright, let's go."

Payton closed the book and stuffed the baggy with her brother's hair into her pocket. Parker followed his sister out the door, heading down stairs. Payton picked up her purse and Parker grabbed his jacket as they stepped outside.

"Don't forget to lock the door," Payton insisted with a sarcastic tone.

"Probably a good idea," Parker replied.

They made their way to Payton's car, getting in and heading for the New York City Hospital.

***

After parking and charging through the hospital's glass doors, Payton and Parker approached the front counter.

"We need to find our brother, Preston Callaway," Parker said sternly.

"Alright," the nurse behind the counter replied. She began typing Preston's name in the computer. "He's in room 128, but visiting..."

"Great, thanks," Payton said cutting off the nurse's words.

Payton and Parker headed for the elevators. They rode the elevator to the second floor and got out.

"Down that way," Payton said to her brother after reading the room numbers on the wall.

They made their way to the room Preston was in. There was no one in there except their unconscious brother.

Stepping into the room the sound of the heart rate meter could be heard. It was slow and steady.

"Lock the door," Payton said to her brother walking over to Preston's bedside.

Parker did so and walked back over to his sister.

"Maybe this isn't a good idea," Parker stated.

"Look Parker, I have this great gift of healing right? Well that's exactly what I'm going to do; I'm going to heal his mind."

Parker sighed and nodded. He knew at this point there was no arguing with his sister. He couldn't let his bad experience with magic stop him from helping his brother.

Payton closed the curtain around Preston's bed and pulled out the bag with her Preston's hair as well as the spell. She walked over to Parker and handed him a pinch of the dark brown hair. She held the white paper between them and a lock of Preston's hair in her other hand.

"Ready?" She asked.

"As ready as I'll ever be," Parker responded. The two began to read aloud.

"Ancient gods and goddesses we invoke thee,

Powers of the mind let it be,

Take our conscious and let it rise,

Lift our minds to the skies,

Let it travel to the one we seek,

And join our minds while our bodies sleep."

Both Payton and Parker's bodies fell to the ground. They too entered their own coma.

***

Two red glows appeared inside the Callaway House as the figures of Payton and Parker faded into their father's room. The house looked exactly the same except for the lighting, which said otherwise.

"We're back at home," Parker stated. "How did that happen?"

"I don't think this is home," Payton said looking around. She noticed the open chest and the missing book. "The grimoire is gone."

Parker looked into the chest and onto the bed. "Maybe this really isn't the house."

Payton scratched her head; a look of confusion dressed her face.

"You have no idea what we're doing here do you?"

"What are you talking about, of course I do."

"Payton, you always scratch your head and do that thing with your tongue when you don't have a plan for something."

Payton pulled her tongue away from her cheek and gave her brother a condescending smile. "Let's just find Preston. I have a feeling we really are in his head." Payton walked out of the room with Preston behind her.

"How can you be so sure? What if something went wrong again?"

"Never question a woman's intuition."

Parker rolled his eyes. His sister was leading them down the hall.

"Oh my god, Preston," Payton said running into Parker's room. She spotted her brother crouched on the ground.

"Stay away from me!" Preston yelled standing up. It was clear that he was going out of his mind; his back up against the wall.

"Preston it's us," Parker said stepping forward.

"No, no it's not. You're demons!" He shouted falling to the floor, the wall guiding him to the ground. He was breathing heavily and his fingertips clung to the sides of his head and face.

Payton turned to Parker with a look of sorrow. She looked back at her brother and slowly walked over to him.

"Get away," Preston demanded, his body language spoke and told his siblings he was overly skittish and paranoid.

"Look Preston, we're not demons," she said kneeling down. "I'm your sister Payton."

"No, no you're not. I saw you, you're a demon," Preston insisted.

Parker walked over and knelt down next to his brother.

Payton grabbed Preston's hand. "I don't know what happened, but this isn't right. You're in the hospital right now, in a coma. You need to wake up Preston; you need to shake yourself out of this."

Preston couldn't speak. He was too afraid and too distrusting. The demonic versions of Payton and Parker appeared in a shadow of black smoke.

"Who the hell are they?" Parker said quickly standing up.

Payton turned around and stood up as well.

"Did you come to die too?" The demonic Parker said, his eyes turning black and his voice deepening.

Payton turned her attention back towards Preston. "Come on Preston get up."

Preston became more coherent seeing the evil versions of his brother and sister. He stood up with the help of Payton. "Payton?"

"Yeah Preston, it's me," she replied, looking back over at the doppelgangers. "These guys must be figments of Preston's imagination or something?"

The demonic siblings created athames in their hands and they approached the Callaways.

"Ok, well how do we make them go away," Parker said with hesitation in his voice.

"Uh, Preston, Preston listen… these demons… you've created them. They're not real and you can make them go away," Payton stated.

"I can… I can make them go away?" Preston wondered, his voice soft.

"If you're going to do something… do it fast!" Parker yelled.

The demonic versions of Payton and Parker were getting too close for comfort. Parker ran at the copy of his self and hit him in the face, knocking him to the ground.

"Come on Preston, I know you can do it," Payton reassured.

Preston took a deep breath and closed his eyes. The demonic version of Parker stood back up and began wrestling with Parker. The demon Payton raised the athame and was ready to strike Payton.

Poof! The demon versions turned into black smoke and disappeared. Parker fell to the ground.

"Owe!" Parker stood back up and dusted himself off.

"Preston you did it!" Payton said with excitement.

Preston was still in shock, but he was coming too. He looked at his sister and gave her a hug. "Thank god you guys are here."

"Mind telling me what that was all about?" Parker asked walking back over to his brother and sister.

"I... I don't know," Preston responded.

"It doesn't matter now," Payton chimed in, "I'm going to heal you and get us out of this nightmare."

"So I'm really in a coma? How are you guys…"

"Magic!" Parker said excitedly.

Payton grabbed her brother's hand again. "I'm going to heal you and make this all better."

Payton tried to heal Preston, but nothing was happening.

"Um, what's the hold up?" Parker wondered.

"I don't know, it's not working," Payton replied. "I don't know what's wrong."

"I don't think you can heal someone in a coma Payton…" Preston suggested.

Parker winced over in pain. His head began to pound and there was ringing all around them. "That's not our only problem." Parker's eyes started to glow a foggy white.

The setting around them began to change and form into the shape of the hospital room. They were standing around their unconscious bodies.

"What's going on?" Preston wondered.

"I think Parker's getting a vision," Payton informed.

There was knocking at the hospital room door. They could see the face of a doctor peering through the window. There was a turning of the lock and the hospital room door opened.

The setting around them instantly changed back to Parker's room. Parker's eyes returned to normal.

"Oh man, the doctor's…"

"We know," Payton stated.

"What do you mean you know?" Parker questioned.

"We saw your vision. That was an experience, that's for sure," Preston added.

"Ok, we need to get you to wake up Preston. We clearly don't have a lot of time," Payton informed.

"Follow me," Preston stated.

He walked out of the room and led his brother and sister downstairs to the front door. He opened it and stepped through the door, his body disappearing into a shimmer.

"Do you think it's safe?" Parker wondered.

Preston's hand reached back through the shimmer between the doorframe and pulled Parker in. Payton stepped in behind him.

"Now where are we?" Parker asked looking around. All he could see was a never ending hallway of doors.

"One of these doors has to be the way out," Preston suggested.

"Not to pressure you, but we really don't have a lot of time," Payton stated.

Preston looked from door to door. His focus was fixated on one particular door. "This one," Preston opened the door and stepped through the shimmer, his brother and sister following behind him.

They appeared in a shimmer into a large empty room. There were no windows, no doors, just gray walls and a gray ceiling.

"I guess the prize wasn't behind door number one," Parker joked.

"No, I'm telling you, I felt it…" Parker was cut off when a circle of darkness encircled the room.

His demonic doctor, boss, brother and sister all appeared out of the darkness; their eyes pitch black, their faces stoic

"Just make these guys go away like before," Payton said.

Before Preston had the chance to focus on making his imaginary demons disappear, they all turned back into a cloud of black smoke however, they reformed into one single figure; it was the figure of Preston.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you," the copy of Preston's voice was normal, as were his eyes. "Besides, you can't make yourself go away." He slowly made his way towards Preston. Both Payton and Parker were standing close beside their brother.

"Come on Preston, get rid of this guy," Parker said.

"I… I can't…" Preston's eyes couldn't leave the sight of himself. It was as if he were staring into a mirror.

"You're not real, stay away from my brother!" Payton yelled.

"Shut up!" The demonic Preston shouted. He lifted his right hand up causing stitches to form around Payton's mouth.

"What did you do to her!" Parker lunged at the demon version of his brother. He took his same hand and moved it towards Parker, than towards the ceiling. Parker was lifted up off the ground and pined to the ceiling with a simple wave of a hand. "Alone at last..."

"Who are you?" Preston didn't move; he couldn't move. He was frozen in fear once again.

The demonic version of himself lifted a few feet off the ground and hovered closer to Preston, the tips of his toes dragging across the floor.

"Hello! Isn't it obvious? I'm you." He laughed cynically. "You can't fight yourself Preston. You're just a scared little boy, a scared little boy afraid of whom he really is."

Preston's appearance suddenly turned into his five-year-old self. He fell to the floor and crouched himself in his knees like before. The room changed into his own room, back when he was a toddler. Payton was still standing next to him, feeling at the stitches in her mouth and Parker was still pinned to the ceiling.

"Preston you've got to fight this!" Parker shouted.

"Oh, there's no use fighting it. You're the evil one Preston. All you do is get your loved ones hurt. That's why you put yourself in a coma. You're weak. You wanted to lock yourself away in your mind, escape the constant struggle of the real world, the same way you locked me in that room. That's why I'm here; you've repressed me for far too long. If you go back, everyone will know, everyone will know about you. About you and your secret," the demon taunted. He was standing over the young Preston.

There was a crash from downstairs and a gnarling sound. The screams and moans of a man and woman could be heard. It sounded as if there was a fight taking place beneath them.

'_Preston you have to fight this. You have control over this, you have control over yourself,'_ the thoughts of Payton filled the very room.

"Stop it!" The demon yelled, his eyes flashing black.

_'There's nothing to be afraid of, not with Parker and I around,'_ again, her thoughts echoed in the room. _'We love you no matter what Preston.'_

"Shut up, shut up, shut up, shut up!" The demon version of Preston seemed to be channeling the Preston who passed out on the streets in New York. He wasn't a figment of Preston's mind, he was a part of Preston's mind that he had lost touch with.

The adult Preston turned into a black smoke and entered the body of the toddler Preston. When he did so, Preston returned back to his original state. The stitches over Payton's mouth dissipated and Parker fell to the ground.

"Oh!" Parker landed with a thud. "Damn it that hurt," he said getting up.

"Are you alright Preston?" Payton asked.

"Don't worry about me, I'm ok too," Parker muttered from under his breath.

"You know what? I think I am," he gave his sister a weak smile.

The walls around them changed. They were now standing in an open area of white light and right in front of them was a brown door.

"Everything is alright now," Preston approached the door and opened it. Stepping through the door they were back in the real world with a flash of bright white light.

Payton and Parker opened their eyes. They had been knocked out on the floor. Preston slowly came to, his eyes struggling to open up. There was a knock at the door after a rattling of the door knob. The doctor, with dark skin and black hair, peered through the rectangular window. He pulled out his bundle of keys and proceeded to unlock the door.

"What the hell is going on in here?" The doctor said barging into the room.

Payton and Parker were standing over the bedside of their now awaken brother. Preston was sitting up against the back of the bed.

"What's up doc?" Parker said with a twinkle in his eye.

"You really should get those locks checked out," Payton said with a smirk.

Preston simply shook his head and chuckled.

***

"The doctor didn't have any explanation for what happened," Preston said as he and his younger siblings walked through the front door to their Dutch colonial house.

"I'm just glad you're alright," Payton added.

"I'll be honest, I was a little nervous we'd get gun down by some Laura Croft wannabe," Parker stated.

A look of confusion came across Preston's face. Payton bit her lip; it had occurred to her that Preston didn't know about Parker's spell.

"What is that suppose to mean?" Preston wondered.

Payton and Parker gave each other look as if telepathically telling each other not to say anything to Preston.

"If you don't tell me, I'll just read your mind," Preston added.

"You saying you didn't read my mind just now?" Parker asked.

"Guess not, but…" Preston concentrated on Parker's thoughts.

_'Sucks to be him,'_ Parker thought, his words echoing in Preston's mind.

"I heard that," Preston said with a glare.

"Wait a minute; you only heard Parker's thoughts when you wanted to Preston. I think that means you're getting control over your power," Payton suggested.

The witches had made their way into the living room. Preston sat on one couch, while his brother and sister sat across from him on the other couch.

Preston shrugged. "I'm ok with that."

Knock! Knock! Knock!

"Who could that be?" Payton wondered.

Preston stood up and walked to the door with a pensive look in his eyes. He opened the door revealing Detective Jacobs.

"I see you're out of the hospital Mr. Callaway," Jacobs said instantly.

"What can I do for you Mr. Jacobs," Preston replied sarcastically.

"Just came by to see if everything was alright. I heard your brother and sister had a little brush-in with a crazy person today."

"Oh, you mean other than you?"

"Funny…" The detective smiled. "I guess the truth is I stopped by to let you know I still have my eye on you three, and weird stuff continues to happen here." Detective Jacobs paused and shrugged. Take care of yourself Preston."

Detective Jacobs turned around and headed off the porch and down the stairs to his car. Preston shook his head and glared as the intrusive detective walked away. He shut the door and made his way back into the living room, leaning up against the door frame.

"Who was at the door?" Payton asked.

"Jacobs. He said something about a crazy lady?"

Parker made a sour face. "Yeah, about that… I cast a little spell."

"Parker, we talked about this. We can't toy around with the occult like that!"

"I know, I was just curious to see what it was we could really do." Parker sighed and looked down. "Besides, I learned my lesson, so there's no need for a lecture.

"Guys, can we just forget about it. The important thing is that Preston is safe," Payton chimed in.

Preston sighed. "Yeah thanks to your woman's intuition." Preston smiled at sat back down in his original spot. "I'll be honest… this who witch thing really freaks me out."

"I know Preston, it scares me too, but I wouldn't believe that dad wouldn't trust us with something we couldn't handle," Payton replied.

Parker nodded. "Payton's right. This is still going to take some getting used to, but we have each other, and that's the important thing, just no more attraction spells."

Preston rolled his eyes and smiled. "Especially with Jacobs still on our backs. We have to be extremely careful from now on."

***

In a dark room lit by black candles, in an apartment in Manhattan, a tall figure dressed in black robes stood at an alter, a hood pulled over the back of his head. He was facing a circle of black candles. An upside down pentagram was drawn in chalk in the middle of the candles. There was a black cloud of thick smoke in the middle of the circle. A sense of evil flooded the small apartment.

"Alemaya tora sinthos exatros…" The dark figure began chanting words in Latin.

On the alter was a large book, and athame, and a bowl made of stone. He reached for the athame and began to cut his left hand, bleeding into the stone bowl. Black smoke began to fill the entirety of the candle made circle from the ground up.

"My followers are eager for their master to be returned," the figure spoke.

"Very good, the time has come then. I will need five innocent souls by the next full moon in order to begin setting me free," a dark demonic voice echoed through the room, it was coming from the demonic cloud.

"I will commence action my liege," the robed man replied. He looked up, his deep blue eyes glowing in the candle lit room.

"Be weary though, I can sense the awakening of great power," the black smoke warned.

The dark figure nodded and approached the circle blowing out one of the candles. When the flame disappeared, the black cloud was sucked back into the earth. The man stood up and took his hood off. He appeared to be a very normal man twenty-three years of age. He was six foot one and his body was lean and muscular. His platinum blonde hair was neatly styled into a foax-hawk; it seemed odd for a man summoning a demonic entity.

Trouble was brewing in the east, and the evil behind it was a powerful force not to be taken lightly.


End file.
